Don't let me go
by Desperately Seeking Imprint
Summary: Trying to escape from her unfulfilled life, Renesmee seeks some "me time" in the sleepy town of Forks, Washington. What she didn't expect was to meet the one man that would set her soul on fire and have her begging him not to let her go. AU/AH
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: This is my first story. If you like it, let me know. If you don't like it or think it could use some work, let me know. And I think we all know I don't own any of it.**

Jacob wiped the sweat off of his brow with the back of his forearm. It was an unusually hot day in Forks at 80 degrees and the afternoon rains had yet to come in and cool things down. Working in a Garage under a car all afternoon only added to the heat.

Jacob had been working at Dowling's since he was in High School. He was good with his hands and could diagnose and fix a problem faster than even Dowling himself, who'd been working on cars for over 40 years; it just came naturally to him. Jake loved his work, it didn't make him rich, but he was a simple guy with simple needs, and that was fine by him.

Though he didn't care about being rich, he did have a desire. More than anything, he wanted to own his own shop. Over the past nine years he'd been saving, every month he'd stash away a little bit more. He hadn't counted it in a while, but he knew he had to be close to $50,000. Once he reached that, it was his plan to talk to Dowling.

Now in his mid-60's, Dowling hardly ever came in anymore, choosing to leave most of the day to day responsibilities to his office manager, Claire, and the repairing to his head mechanic, Jacob. The only other employee, Chris, was their part time mechanic/tow truck driver. Jake knew if he could just make Dowling the right offer, maybe he'd sell; and with $50,000 to put down, he was hoping to get a loan for the rest. It would take a lot of work, but there was so much he could do to really make something of the shop, and Jake wasn't afraid of hard work.

Hearing the bell chime signaling the arrival of a new car, Jake rolled out from under the '85 Chevy Scottsdale he was working on to check out the new arrival. As he watched the car pull up to the bay, he had to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming. Not 20 feet from him was a true beauty, it wasn't usual to see the likes in his small town and it was a struggle to pick his jaw up off the floor. He had only seen it in pictures; it was a Mercedes-Benz E-class Cabriolet, but he couldn't tell if it was a 2010 or a 2011. The light blue color didn't seem ideal to Jake, a car like this deserved to be black or red, but who was he to throw around his opinions.

Walking up to the car, he let out a long slow whistle. He checked his hands to make sure they were free of oil before running them over the hood of the beautiful piece of machinery. He didn't think he'd ever seen anything so beautiful until his eyes met hers. His hand fell away from the car but he managed to keep his jaw from hitting the floor. Her brown eyes had him transfixed, there was so much buried within their depths he felt that even if he had a lifetime he still wouldn't know all there was to know about her. He let his eyes wander down to her lips, they were full and pouty and they shimmered slightly. Jacob couldn't help but wonder if they were as soft as they looked and what they might feel like pressed against his.

"Um, hello?" he heard her say and he immediately looked back up to her eyes. Her right brow was raised and she had a look on her heart shaped face that seemed to be a mixture of amusement and aggravation.

He shook his head slightly and cleared his throat before responding, "Can I help you?"

"I hope so," she said. The amusement left her features as she furrowed her brow. "I was driving in from Seattle and my check engine light came on about 20 miles back," she added.

With that car, he knew there was no way she was from around here. The people in Forks just didn't go around driving $50,000 cars. But Jake sure hoped she'd be staying awhile. He leaned in to get a closer look at the dash but stopped when he saw her eyes grow big and pull back, "what are you doing?" she asked.

Jake drew back, realizing that in his fogged mental state, he had unintentionally invaded her personal space. "I apologize," he started, "I was just trying to get a good look at your dash."

"Oh," she said appearing to relax some. "Would you like me to step out?" she asked as she reached over to grab her purse from the passenger's seat.

Jake shook his head as he made his way to the front of the car, "Nope," he said. "I got a look. Could you pop the hood for me though? I just wanna make sure nothing's smoking."

"Sure," she said as she reached for the release lever.

Jacob didn't think it could be anything too serious on a car that wasn't any older than a year if that. And his quick glance at the dash had shown him that the car had less than 12,000 miles on it. He knew one of the main causes for a check engine light to come on was faulty spark plugs, so he gave those a quick check. _Nope, that's not the problem, _he thought to himself.

"See anything under there?" she called out.

Jake dusted his hands off and lowered the hood back down, making sure it locked securely. Coming back around to the driver's side of the vehicle, he gave the girl a half smile as he leaned against the side of the car and crossed his arms over his chest. "Well, I can't see anything wrong at a glance," he said. "You said it came on about 20 miles back. Did it stay on after that, or has it gone on and off?"

He watched as she shook her head before answering. The movement caused some of the lose tendrils of her coppery hair that had escaped from her ponytail to brush her exposed shoulder. "No, it stayed on the whole time after that."

Watching as her hair brushed her shoulder had caused Jake's throat to go dry; he had to swallow before he was able to speak. "I'm gonna have to mess around with it to find the cause," he started. "Only problem is, today's Saturday, and we close up at 3."

"Okay," she said, looking at the clock on her dash and seeing it was already 2:45 pm. "Well what time do you open tomorrow? I could be here first thing."

It was clear she was from the city and used to things moving at a faster pace. But out here, things moved much, much slower. And on Sundays, they all but stopped. "Actually, we're closed on Sunday's, ma'am."

"Of course you are," she said as all traces of aggravation and frustration left her face. All that remained was a look of sadness so strong Jacob felt it in his very core.

Although the look was fleeting and gone so fast that Jake couldn't even be sure he'd seen it, he felt like he had to do something to help her. He couldn't explain it, he had just met her, and hadn't even had the sense to get her name yet, but Jake knew he couldn't just let her leave. "Listen, uh," he began while running his right hand nervously through his short hair, "are you gonna be staying around here?"

She looked at him wearily, as if she wasn't sure if she should answer. To Jake it appeared as if she were having an inner debate with herself as she looked from him, to the shop, to her dash and then back to him. Letting out a sigh, she said, "Yes, I'm staying in the area."

Giving her another half smile he nodded, "Okay then, the shop may be closed tomorrow, but if you'd like, I'll come to wherever you're staying and take a look at it for you. My name's Jacob, Jacob Black. I've been working here since I was 15. Ask anyone in town and they'll tell you, not only am I the best mechanic in town, but you can trust me."

She didn't seem to be 100% at ease to Jake, but she smiled, and when she did, Jake felt his knees go a little weak. Luckily he was leaning against the car and was able to avoid falling down and embarrassing himself. He knew that if she smiled at him like that, he'd give her anything she wanted. _What is wrong with me? _He thought as he tried to clear his head.

Just as he pushed himself off the car to stand straight and try to get a little distance between them, she offered her hand, "Nice to meet you Jacob, I'm Renesmee."

Jake stood still for a moment just starring at her hand, before he took a half step towards her. He reached his arm out and took her hand in his as his eyes locked with hers. Her skin was warm and so soft against his. He could only imagine how his rough, calloused hand would feel to her, and he released her hand before he had wanted to.

He stepped back needing to get a deep breath of fresh air to help clear his head. "Renesmee," he said, trying out her name and letting it float through his head.

She rolled her eyes and smirked, "I know, it's different," she said and he smirked as well. "But, I think I'll take you up on your offer." She turned towards the passenger's seat and grabbed her purse. Opening it, she removed a pen and a small spiral bound notebook. She began to write and when she finished, she ripped out the sheet of paper and held it out to Jacob. "Here's the address where I'll be

staying, it's just a few minutes outside of town. I also wrote my phone number down. I'll be home all day, but if you could call me when you're free and have some time to come over I'd appreciate it."

Jacob took a step towards Renesmee again and reached for the paper in her hands. His finger tips brushed the back of her hand as he grabbed it and he heard her suck in a breath. He straightened, but he couldn't take his eyes off of her, and she was starring right back.

As he stood there starring at her, he felt as if there were an electric current going back and forth between them, and he was powerless to break it. Hell, even if he could, he wasn't sure if he'd want to. All he wanted to know was if she felt it to, but he couldn't bring himself to ask.

It took hearing the phone in the office ring to snap Jake out of it. He looked towards the shop and then back at Renesmee and said, "I gotta get that, I'm the only one here on Saturdays, I'll be right back," and he ran to the office.

"Dowling's Garage, this is Jake," he said as he looked at the clock. It was 3 o'clock which meant it would be Dowling himself on the phone. He always called at the end of every day to check in and see how things had gone.

After Jake gave him a run down on the 2 cars he'd serviced they said their good buys and Jake hung up the phone.

As he walked back out towards Renesmee's car, he was glad that the call had come in when it did. _I was less than 5 seconds away from grabbing her out of that car, pushing her up against it and kissing her, _he thought. _That would not have been good._

"Sorry about that. But um, yeah, t-tomorrow," Jacob stuttered as he tried to get the words out. "I'll give you a call around noon. Just gotta finish up something in the morning but that shouldn't take too long."

Renesmee smiled up at him again, a little embarrassed herself about what had happened earlier, although she couldn't even begin to explain it. "Of course, I really do appreciate it. I guess I'll see you tomorrow then."

Jacob gave a half smile back and nodded his head.

With that he watched as Renesmee put the car in reverse and backed out of the lot. He stood in the same spot, watching her drive down the road until he could no longer see her. "Damn," he muttered to himself. Turning, he walked back towards the garage to lock it up for the night. _I think I'm in trouble._


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I actually got a couple reviews and notifications that people added my story to their alerts which is awesome. Thanks to those of you who did and the ones I couldn't respond to b/c you have private messages turned off. I hope this next chapter doesn't disappoint. **

**I don't own any of it.**

**Enjoy.**

Renesmee made her way into the bedroom she had chosen in the old white house. She had just come out of the shower; a blue towel was wrapped around her and she was using another to dry her hair. She had to hurry, Jacob had called her at 11:30 to let her know he'd be here within the hour, and it was now just after noon.

Normally at this time on a Sunday, she would not only be up and dressed, but just finishing brunch with the Seattle Women's Social Committee as well. A few members of which would need to be driven home after one too many Mimosas or Bloody Mary's.

It wasn't so much a committee as it was a chance for the precious and pampered ladies of Seattle's upper crust to get together, drink and gossip. Renesmee abhorred their "meetings" and typically spent the hour's daydreaming while pretending to listen to the inane chatter surrounding her.

The only other person on the committee that she could truly call a friend just happened to be a relative. Her Aunt Alice was the preeminent party/wedding/social planner in Seattle. She felt just as Renesmee did of the old biddies on the committee, but if she wanted to maintain her title, she knew she'd have to continue to schmooze and cater to the bunch. All it would take was one negative word from one of these women, and her career would be over as quickly as it had risen.

Renesmee had to admit it was nice to be on her own schedule for once. In the past 3 years, she hadn't had all that much opportunity to spend an entire weekend as she chose. There was always some fundraiser, party, benefit, dinner or gala she just had to attend. But she had made the decision for herself to escape this weekend, and that's how she wound up in Forks.

Renesmee checked the clock on her way to the closet, figuring she had at least another 10 minutes before Jacob arrived. She shook her head as she pulled out a pair of jeans and a gray t-shirt that she had hung the night before. She couldn't believe how she'd acted in front of him yesterday. _Was I actually flirting? _She thought to herself and then laughed, _Not that he was any better._

In all her 23 years, never had one man come even remotely close to affecting her as Jacob had. And it wasn't just his looks, although he had the kind of physique that made a girl want to lick her lips and say yummy. No, it was more than just that, there was something about him, she felt drawn to him; and that scared her so much she refused to think about it further. And feeling that bolt of electricity that had spiked between them yesterday, and how Jacob had starred into her eyes after, had made it clear to her that he felt everything she was feeling; which meant she had to stay away.

After pulling on the jeans and t-shirt, Renesmee walked to the dresser, picked up her brush and began to section and comb out her hair. With Jacob due to arrive any minute, she didn't have the time to spend on her hair that she normally would. She just had to hope that a fast brush and letting it air dry wouldn't cause her curls to tangle too much.

Just as she set the brush back down, she heard the doorbell. Taking a last look in the mirror, she hurried out of the room to get the door. She hadn't had the time to apply any make-up; then again, she had no one to impress here, so what did it matter?

Taking the stairs two at a time, she got to the front door and opened it just as Jacob was raising his fist to knock. Renesmee leaned against the door and smiled in greeting. He appeared stunned for a moment, his fist still in the air. Her smile widened, _he looks so cute, like a little puppy_. When she realized what she had been thinking her smile faded, _stop that_, she admonished herself.

Jacob knew he'd be seeing her again today and he thought he was prepared. He still didn't quite understand what had come over himself yesterday. Yes, she was beautiful, but Jake saw beautiful women all the time and never had he reacted like that before. He had brushed it off, downplaying not only her looks but the chemistry he had felt between them. He was all set to come out today, see her, talk to her, work on her car and then go about the rest of his day as if she were any other customer. But that all changed when she opened the door and he saw her.

Realizing his fist was still in the air; Jake quickly dropped it and smiled sheepishly. "Hey, uh, how's it goin'?" He said as he watched her straighten and tuck her hair behind her right ear. It was damp, and as he thought about how her hair had gotten wet in the first place, he let out a low growl.

Renesmee could have sworn she had heard what sounded like a growl come from Jacob, and she had to suppress the thrill just hearing that one sound had sent through her. Choosing to ignore her bodies reaction she said, "Good, thanks. I really appreciate you coming out here on a Sunday to help me out. It's just that, I'm due back in Seattle tomorrow and if I would've had to wait to get my car checked out I wouldn't have made it. And I really wouldn't have felt safe driving all the way back with the check engine light on." She had no idea why she had told him all of that; it's not like he had asked.

She watched as Jacob nodded his head and gave her an incredibly sexy half smile. As he spoke, she let her eyes travel down the length of him. "It's no problem, really. You're right too; you wouldn't wanna drive all the way back with the light on, even if it turns out to be nothing, it's better to have it checked."

The words barely registered with Renesmee as she let her eyes feast on the man standing in front of her. At 5'8, she wasn't short by female standards, but even standing in the house and being a step above him, she still just barely came to his chin. He was wearing a black shirt and jeans. The shirt wasn't tight, but fitted, and it stretched appealingly over the muscles of his chest and arms. His skin was a delicious bronze color that reminded her of the sun and she had a feeling it would be warm to the touch. She gave herself just a moment to enjoy the sight of him and then let her eyes travel back up to his face. Jacob was still smiling casually at her, but something she saw in his eyes made her think that her perusal of his body had not gone unnoticed by him, and she blushed.

Jake was aware of every move Renesmee made, as she looked him over, he could practically feel his skin tingle. He knew he was decent looking and he had even caught girls checking him out from time to time, but none of them had ever made him feel the way Renesmee did with just one look. When he saw her cheeks go up in flames, he felt as if he couldn't breathe. It took him a moment to get himself under control. "Okay, I guess I should get out there and get started. I'll come around and let you know what I find out as soon as I know."

Renesmee knew she was making a fool of herself, but she couldn't seem to stop it. She was thankful that Jacob would be outside working on the car and they'd have a lot of distance between them for the rest of the afternoon. "Sounds good," she said. "I left the garage open for you and the keys are on the work bench. Can I bring you anything to drink? It's really hot out there." _I'm only trying to be polite. I am not giving myself an excuse to stand outside and watch him work, _she told herself.

But Jacob shook his head no, "Nah, I'm good for now. But thanks." With that, Renesmee watched as he turned and started down the walk way. She had thought his front was nice, but that was only because she hadn't seen his back. The same muscles that stretched across his chest, spanned his shoulders, and even through his shirt she could tell that there would be very little fat on his body.

Finally, Jacob vanished around the side of the house, out of her line of sight. Renesmee sighed and shut the door, turning towards the kitchen. Standing in front of the open door for so long had gotten her unbelievably hot, and she needed something to cool herself down.

…**..**

As she was in the middle of pulling some items out of the fridge to make a salad, Renesmee heard the doorbell. It hadn't been more than a half hour since Jacob had begun work on the car, _could he be done already?_ She thought as she quickly made her was to the door and opened it. "Hey," she said, "Is everything okay?"

Jacob laughed lightly and he had a sparkle in his eyes that made them shine. "Yeah, everything's good, more than good actually. I'm all done," and he chuckled again.

_Done? That was quick. He really is good. _Renesmee thought while saying. "Already? So what was the problem?"

"Well, uh, it was your gas cap." He said, still looking amused.

"My gas cap?" Renesmee asked; a look of disbelief on her face.

Jacob nodded and said, "Yeah, see, a lot of cars these days have sensors around the gas tank. When you fill up, if you don't tighten the gas cap real good, there won't be enough pressure in the tank. That can trigger the sensor which can cause the light to come on."

Renesmee was dumbfounded, she had never heard of this before; not that she knew anything about cars, but she would've thought she would have known something so simple.

Jacob continued when Renesmee didn't say anything. "I'm actually a little embarrassed I didn't check that out first thing. Would have saved us some time and you some worry. Sorry about that."

Renesmee looked up at Jacob and took note of the tone of his voice and the look on his face. Although he had been smiling at first, she could tell that he had really given himself a hard time about not catching this sooner. She realized that Jacob had a lot of pride in his ability, and he didn't like to be wrong. She really admired that about him. "Well, now I feel silly for making you waste time on your day off to fix something so simple."

Jake cocked his head to the side and gave Renesmee one of those half smiles that she was beginning to get addicted to. "I told you," he started, "It was no problem. Besides, what kind of a guy would I be if I didn't help out a lady in distress?"

Renesmee laughed, "Okay, you're right." She said still smiling. "Come on in for a second while I go get my purse. How much do I owe you?"

Shaking his head Jake said, "Nah-uh, this was on the house."

"No," Renesmee almost shouted. "Not only is it your day off but you came out to me. I am not letting you leave here without some sort of compensation."

Jake couldn't help it, as soon as she mentioned compensation a scene flashed through his mind. In it, he had Renesmee in his arms, her legs were wrapped tightly around his waist and her arms were around his neck with her hands in his hair. He had her pressed against a wall and he could almost feel how good it would be to grind himself into the heat between her legs. He felt his dick twitch at the thought and knew he had to get himself under control, although he was certain he'd be coming back to that scene quite a few times over the next few days; most likely while he was in the shower. He had to clear his throat before he was able to speak, "Listen, Renesmee, it's really not necessary. I didn't have anything else going on this afternoon. The way I see it, what better way is there to spend a Sunday then helping out a pretty girl?" _Jesus, now I'm flirting?_

Renesmee noticed that it had taken Jacob a moment too long to answer, and she could only guess at what he'd been thinking. And the way he had said her name, with that deep, rough voice of his; she could practically imagine him whispering it into her ear as he pulled her body against his. "Okay, if I can't pay you, can I at least offer you some lunch? I was just about to make something before you rang."

Jake took a moment to consider. He wanted nothing more than to spend some more time with her, and if they were having a meal together, maybe they'd talk as well. If they spoke, maybe he'd learn some more about her, like why she was here in the first place and when she was coming back. "You found my weak spot," he joked, "I've never been able to turn down food. What are we havin'?"

Smiling, Renesmee laughed and said, "Well this house is vacant pretty much all year, so there's not a supply of food kept on site. I went to the market last night and picked up some chicken breasts, I was gonna use the leftovers to make a chicken caesar salad. Is that okay?"

"That sounds perfect. Just give me a minute," Jake said. "I've got some tools I left out and I just wanna put them away in case any rain comes in."

"Of course, just come on in when you're done, the kitchens down this hallway to your right, I'll be in there," Renesmee instructed.

Jake smiled and nodded and made his way back out towards the garage.

…**..**

Jake sat at a smallish 4 person table in the back right corner of Renesmee's kitchen. When he came in, he had offered to help but she refused, telling him that he was to sit and enjoy and she'd be doing all the work. That little line had conjured up another scene in Jake's head, only this time he was sitting on a couch. His legs were spread at the knees and Renesmee was between them. She had her lips wrapped around him and he watched as her head moved up and down. She was definitely doing all the work, and he was most certainly enjoying.

Once he got that mental image out of his head, he had a hard time speaking for a moment. Renesmee didn't seem to mind, she was currently buzzing around the kitchen putting different things together. Jake never knew a salad could smell so good. Truth be told, he didn't really eat a lot of salads; pizza, meat, pasta, he ate a lot of that stuff, not so many vegetables. But if she was making it for him, he'd eat whatever she had to offer.

Renesmee looked up, saw Jake starring at her and smiled at him. She felt so happy and…free. She loved to cook but unfortunately didn't get much of an opportunity to do it back home. Even though she had already cooked the chicken last night and was just serving it cold, just the simple act of preparing something to share with another person made her happier than she had been in a long time, which was sad when you really thought about it.

Renesmee gathered the last items and added them to the trays. One by one, she brought them to the table, smiling as she set them down. "There, I think we have everything we need. Did I miss anything?" she asked, looking at Jacob.

"Nope," he replied, "I think we got everything we need.

Satisfied, Renesmee sat down across from Jacob and said, "Dig in."

They were both quite for a few minutes as they began eating. Not only had she made the best salad Jake had ever tasted, but she had these thick slices of bread that she had sprinkled shredded cheese on and toasted, Jake was in love. _With the food, not the girl_, he told himself.

Renesmee was thinking back over the past few days as she ate. Two days ago, she had no clue who the man in front of her was, now they were sitting across from each other eating a meal she had prepared. She hadn't planned on inviting Jacob to stay for lunch, but she wasn't letting herself think about it or the consequences.

Finally coming up for air, Jake looked over at Renesmee, "This is really great. I gotta be honest, I don't eat a lot of vegetables, but if you make them all taste as good as this, I might reconsider."

Chuckling, Renesmee said, "Well I'll take that as a compliment, thank you."

"You're welcome," Jake replied after swallowing another bite, trying his hardest not to show his bad manners and eat with his mouth full. "So where'd you learn to cook?"

"Well," Renesmee started, pausing for a moment to break off and eat a piece of her bread. "I learned from a few different people, most of the women in my family can cook and some of the men as well. My father taught me most of the basics and then my mother, grandmother and Uncle filled in the rest. What about you, can you cook?"

"Not really," Jake said, chuckling. "I'm not that good in the kitchen. I can boil some water for pasta and heat up a can of ragu, throw a frozen pizza in the oven and pour a bowl of cereal, that's about it."

"That," Renesmee said, trying not to laugh, "is so sad."

"Yeah," he started. Renesmee was looking right at Jake, and she didn't miss the pained look that crossed his face. As quickly as it had come, it passed and a sad smile took its place as he spoke "It's just me and my dad at home. Neither of us really knows our way around the kitchen. When they lived at home, my older sisters used to do the cooking, but they're both married now. Rachel still lives close by and she drops off food every now and then, but the rest of the time it's just us two fending for ourselves."

Renesmee noticed that Jacob hadn't mentioned anything about his mom. She was curious, but she didn't want to pry. They may be sitting down, having a nice meal and sharing pleasant conversation, but in reality, he didn't know anything about her. Obviously he had left his mom out on purpose, whatever the reason may be, and it wasn't her place to bring it up.

Jake must have felt the same because after a moment of silence, he changed the subject. "Ya know I've lived in this area all my life, and I never knew this place was out here. It actually took me a couple times driving by to find the turn off from the main road, it's really secluded back here."

"Oh I know," she agreed, "I used to come up here every summer with my family when I was a girl, but I haven't been back in years, and I never drove by myself, it took me forever. By the time I found it last night and got the groceries in and put away, I was so frustrated I just wanted to have a glass of wine and go to bed."

Jacob couldn't believe that Renesmee had come to his small town every year when she was younger and they had never met. Maybe if they had met as teenager's things would have been different; maybe she would have come to a bon fire at La Push; maybe they would have had a summer romance and maybe that would have turned into real love. "So how old were you the last time you were out here?" He asked.

"Well," she began as she tapped her finger against her full bottom lip. "I think I was like 13 or 14. My mother was actually born here and my father and his family moved to the town when he was in high school. Long story short, my parents got married, moved to Seattle to go to college and then had me. By that time my grandparents had moved to Alaska, but they couldn't bring themselves to sell this house. So every year we'd all come back and spend a couple weeks here. But as I got older I got interested in seeing different places, and I'd beg my parents to vacation in Hawaii or the Bahamas or New York. And now this old house sits vacant most of the year. I think my grandmother has a crew come in to keep the place clean and work on the grounds every so often, but no one's really stayed here in a while."

By this time, both Jake and Renesmee had finished eating. Getting up, Jake grabbed the dishes to take them to the sink, brushing off Renesmee when she tried to help. She had prepared the meal, the least he could do was clean up and he told her as much. Renesmee shrugged, she wasn't going to argue, although she loved to cook, she never quite cared to clean up the resulting mess.

Walking towards the hutch on the far left wall, Renesmee asked Jacob, "Do you like wine?"

Jake looked up from the dish he was washing in the sink towards Renesmee. She was pulling down a bottle of wine and two glasses from a middle shelf. _Is she really asking me to stay and have a drink with her?_ He asked himself. "Uh, yeah, wine's good." He answered.

"Good, because I feel like having a glass and I don't want to drink alone two nights in a row." She said as she turned and smiled at him. "I'm gonna take these to the living room, are you okay finishing up in here?"

Jacob couldn't really form any words, so he just nodded.

"Great," she said. "Join me in the living room when you're done," with that Renesmee grabbed the glasses and the bottle of wine and left the kitchen.

…**..**

Renesmee was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes. She and Jacob had finished off the bottle of wine about an hour before. They had each had around 2 and half glasses, enough to make her feel relaxed, but not enough to get her drunk; not that she was trying to get drunk.

They had talked about so much; she had never opened up to someone this easily. She was usually a very private person, but he just seemed to bring it out of her. They had started at the beginning; Renesmee speaking mostly about her family and Jake speaking mostly about his friends and school. The one thing Jake hadn't spoken of at all was his mother, and Renesmee had noticed but hadn't asked.

Right now they were in the middle of the horrid teenage years and Jake was telling her about his first attempt at trying to remove a girl's bra; a little private, but it was funny as hell and Renesmee couldn't stop laughing.

"You did not?" She asked after Jake admitted he had somehow elbowed the girl in the face after he finally got it off, causing her to bite down on her tongue so hard it started to bleed.

Jake held up two fingers and said, "Scout's honor," before he burst out laughing as well.

As she laughed, Jake noticed the way her face would scrunch up and how her eyes seemed to glow; he had even gotten her to let out a snort once or twice which he found completely adorable. Looking at the clock, he saw it was getting late and wondered if she had noticed how much time had passed.

Renesmee hadn't been paying attention to the time, but she did catch Jakes glance towards the clock and commented, "I didn't realize it's almost dinner time, do you have somewhere to be?"

Jake was torn, he knew Renesmee would understand if he told her he had to go, but he could see in her eyes that she didn't want him to. On the other hand, he didn't know where they'd end up if he stayed any longer. He had to find out if she had any plans to come back again; it was crazy, he had just met the women, but something in his gut told him that he could have a future with her if she would just give him a real chance. And believing that, he couldn't settle for just one night with her. "Yeah, I've got some things I've gotta take care of, I really should get going."

He watched as Renesmee nodded and got up from the couch they had been sitting on. Following her lead, Jake stood and faced her. They stood across from each other, neither moving towards the door nor saying anything to the other for a moment, just starring. Jake began to feel that same electric current pass between them, only this time it was stronger, and he felt as if it were pulling him towards her. He wanted to take her in his arms and run his fingers through her copper curls as he kissed her deeply, nipping and sucking on her full bottom lip. But he fought for control and won, he couldn't let his desire for this woman get the best of him. Instead, he moved away, making his way towards the front door.

When he reached the door, he stopped and turned. He knew if she'd agree to see him again, he'd stay if that's what she wanted. Renesmee had followed and was standing closer this time, he'd barely have to reach out to touch her and his fingers tingled in anticipation. Looking down into her eyes he asked, "Will I see you again?"

Jake watched as she sighed and lowered her head. He braced himself, until she said the words, there was still a chance, he could still hope. As she lifted her eyes back towards his, she spoke, "I don't know, it's complicated."

Jake nodded; he could trick himself into believing that he could have a future with a girl like this. But at the end of the day, he was just some mechanic that lived with his old man on the local reservation, and she was a rich chick from the city. He was right to leave, he wouldn't have been anything more than a one night stand to her; they had no future. Jake accepted that and turned to leave. With his hand on the door knob, he paused; he was giving her one chance to change her mind. When she said nothing, Jacob felt a pain in his chest that he couldn't explain. She was just another chick, it shouldn't hurt so much. Gathering what was left of his pride; Jake opened the door and walked out.


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks again to everyone who's reading. I really love hearing what you think. Hope this next one doesn't disappoint. They'll be a few more words from me at the end of the chapter.**

The rain drops began to splash onto the windshield of Renesmee's car. She had noticed the dark clouds overtaking the blue sky at her last stop and had already put the top up. She'd left Forks early; it was now close to 11 am and she had another half hour left until she'd be home.

Setting the wipers to low, Renesmee tried to get her emotions under control. Between the drops streaking across her windshield and the tears she was crying, it was becoming difficult to see.

_Why am I even crying in the first place?_ She asked herself for what felt like the hundredth time.

When Jacob had asked if he'd see her again, a part of her had been ecstatic. But her better judgment quickly overshadowed any joy she'd felt as her obligations came to mind. She'd known that if Jake were to have stayed, things would have gone a lot further than she was prepared to take them. She just couldn't seem to help herself; she'd never reacted to a man the way she reacted to Jacob. So she told him the only thing she could, that it was complicated.

As she waited for his response, she had seen what looked like disappointment and then anger flash across his features. Renesmee could understand that, she knew Jake had felt all of the things she had been feeling. It was acceptable for him to be angry with her for not exploring those feelings, because there was a lot that he didn't know about her. It wasn't that she didn't want Jacob; she just knew she couldn't have him. It wouldn't be fair, because he couldn't have all of her; she belonged to someone else.

….

Renesmee opened the front door of her home and stepped inside. She had finally gotten control of her emotions just before pulling into the driveway. This was neither the time nor place to fall apart; she could never be sure who would be home.

Just as she was setting her things down on the side table in the foyer, she heard footsteps above and then, "Renesmee, I didn't expect you'd be home this early."

At the top of the stairway stood a handsome man, looking to be in his late 20's. He had sandy colored blonde hair, blue eyes and stood to be just slightly under 6 foot.

Renesmee turned and looked towards the man, smiling up at him. "I'm sorry I didn't call and let you know, I figured you'd be at the office."

He smiled back at her as he started down the stairs, "yes I was earlier, but something's come up and now that you're home we can talk about it."

He made his way to the bottom and stopped directly in front of Renesmee. "But first," he started as he moved closer and wrapped his arms around her waist. "I've been waiting to do this all weekend," and he moved his head down to hers, softy touching her lips with his.

Renesmee had to fight to remain in control, as soon as he touched her, an image of Jacob flashed across her mind, _get out_, she thought to herself. She brought her hands up to rest on his shoulders and closed her eyes, allowing herself to melt into the kiss.

She waited, but even as his tongue ran across her bottom lip and she opened her mouth to allow him entrance, she didn't feel even a tenth of the thrill just looking at Jacob had sent through her body. But if she were honest with herself, she would admit that she had never felt that kind of a thrill with him, or any other man for that matter.

Renesmee felt him end the kiss and pull away and she opened her eyes. "How was the spa?" he asked.

_Oh right,_ she thought, remembering how she'd lied to him. She had wanted to get away, escape for just a few days and take some time for herself. But when she had brought up the idea of taking a few days to relax, he had automatically asked her which spa she would be going to. Apparently in his circle, it was acceptable for women to escape to the spa for a few days of relaxation. For some reason, Renesmee hadn't felt the need to correct him. Instead she went along with it, pretending to be staying at the Hotel Murano in downtown Tacoma to enjoy their first class Savi Day Spa. Her parents were the only people who'd known where she had really been this past weekend, _well, them and Jake_.

Feelings of guilt began to wash over her as she starred into his eyes. "It was good," she said. "Everyone was very accommodating" Renesmee had never actually been to a spa. She had gotten a mani/pedi at the local nail place once or twice, but she knew those services where far from what she would probably receive at a first class spa, so she was trying to keep her descriptions as vague as possible.

Releasing his hold around Renesmee's waist, he took her hand and led her into the sitting room while continuing to speak, "I'm glad you enjoyed yourself. And I'm sorry to have to bombard you the minute you return, but some big things have been happening in this case I've been working and I need to talk to you about it. Have a seat." They had reached the couch; he released her hand and took a seat himself.

"Is everything okay Michael?" she asked.

"Things are great with the case," Michael said beaming. "In fact we've uncovered some evidence that's really going to push things in our favor. The only problem is I'm going to have to go to New York for a little while to meet with the partners and settle some things before trial."

"Oh, is that all?" Renesmee asked, relieved that nothing was wrong. Michael worked for a very powerful law firm. Their head offices were in New York and he would frequently have to make trips to the bigger city to meet with the partners before important cases went to trial.

"Well, yes," Michael said sounding hesitant. "But I'm not sure when exactly I'll be able to make it home and I'm afraid I won't be back by next Tuesday."

_Next Tuesday, _Renesmee thought, racking her brain to try and remember if she had forgotten some important dinner party or benefit set for that day, but she couldn't remember for the life of her.

Michael noticed Renesmee's furrowed brow and he mistook her concentration for anger or annoyance and quickly tried to soothe her, "Believe me sweetheart, if I could be here I would. It's our first wedding anniversary, do you really think I want to miss that?

_Oh my God, _Renesmee froze,_ next Tuesday, July27th, how could I have forgotten? _She asked herself. She had to recover and say something, how could she explain forgetting her wedding anniversary, he wouldn't understand. "Michael," she began, "hunny it's okay. I know you want to be here. I would never hold this against you. It's your job, you have to go, I understand."

A look of relief spread across Michaels face and Renesmee knew she was in the clear. "This is why I love you," Michael said as he reached for her and placed a kiss on her forehead. "I have the best wife in the world. And I promise I'll make it up to you as soon as I get back."

Renesmee felt sick, but she pasted a smile onto her face and responded, "I know you will, and I love you too."

….

Jacob sat in the sand on First Beach, watching as the sun made it's decent below the horizon. It had been a rare, beautiful day in his little corner of the Pacific Northwest. The dreary gray clouds and rain had stayed away all day, giving the younger residents of La Push a chance to enjoy the beach after their busy days at work.

Jakes friends had ambushed him when he'd arrived home after a long day at the shop; they'd all noticed a change in him over the past few days. They weren't used to seeing him without a smile on his handsome face, but he'd been moping around lately and none of them knew why. His sister Rachel had even threatened to strip him down and put on his swim trunks herself if he wouldn't do it on his own. He gave in at that, he knew he could take her if she got anywhere near him, but it was easy to see she was worried about him, and he wanted to assure her and everyone else that he was just fine.

Even though he'd made an appearance, he was afraid he wasn't doing such a good job of convincing everyone he was okay. He'd been pretty anti-social the entire evening, choosing to sit on his own and enjoy a beer or two instead of joining everyone else over by the fire; which wasn't like him.

He just couldn't seem to snap out of it. He kept telling himself that she was just another chick and that she wasn't worth it. But then a little voice would pop into his head and say, _but you know that's not true, _and heaven help him, it sounded like her voice saying it.

_She really did a number on me, _he thought as he took another sip from his can of beer.

He heard someone approaching to his right and looked up to see his friend Embry coming his way. "This seat taken?" Embry asked he got to Jake's side.

Jake shook his head no and Embry sat. "You mind tellin' me why the hell you're over here all by yourself when the party's over there?" he asked cocking his head to the right where the fire was blazing and the music was playing behind them.

Jake lifted his can of beer to his lips again before answering, "I just don't feel like being around a bunch of people tonight."

"Well it's a good thing we're not people, we're you're friends and you're family," he started, pausing to take a long pull from his own beer, "So stop acting like a little bitch and get your ass over there."

"Watch it Call," Jake said, a slow smile breaking out on his face, "you know I can take you." This is exactly what he needed to get his mind off of _her_, a chance to let out a little steam, and he knew his friend was good for it. They'd grown up together, and for as long as he could remember, Embry had always been up for a little friendly competition.

"Oh yeah," Embry said, chugging down the rest of his bear and then setting the can down before standing, "bring it on Black."

Jake set his can down as well and stood to face Embry. He held out his hand and Embry took it and gave it a shake before releasing it. They stood across from each other, each sizing the other up; then with a nod of Jake's head, they went at each other.

It only took a second for the others to notice the two dark skinned men going at it closer to the shore. The women chose to ignore it; it wasn't uncommon for their men to get into a friendly scuffle during one of these things. The other guys got closer; placing bets on who they thought would come out the winner.

Even in the midst of the fight, Jake could see his friends had gathered around. "I've got five bucks on Jake," he heard Quil say. "I'll take that action, Jake's head ain't been on straight the past few days, Embry's got him beat," his brother-in-law Paul answered. _I'll show you whose head ain't on straight Paul, you can be next after I finish Embry off. Get ready to win five bucks Quil._

….

Twenty minutes later, Jake sat by the fire, an ice pack pressed to his right eye. It had been a good fight, he had a busted lip and had gotten an elbow to the eye, but he still came out the winner. Embry was sitting across from him while his girl fixed him up. He probably had a broken nose, but he wasn't about to go to the hospital. Jake admitted to himself that he had probably packed a little too much force into that last punch for a friendly fight, but Paul had been right, his head hadn't been on straight.

After Dyani finished cleaning Embry up, she gathered up the rags and the first aid kit to return it to Emily. She gave Jake a very harsh look as she passed him and he knew he'd be in the dog house with her for a while. Standing, he made his way over to Embry and sat on the empty log next to his. "You doin' okay man?" Jake asked nudging Embry's arm with his elbow.

"What do you think," Embry replied, turning to face Jake. "I got my girl fawning all over me, asking what she can do to make me feel better. Hell, I'll probably even get a sympathy blow job out of it tonight, I'm great," he said, smiling from ear to ear.

Jake laughed, "So we're good?"

"Of course we're good," Embry said, "we're bros. Just promise me you'll be there next time I need to let off some steam."

"You know it bro," Jake said, finally feeling relaxed enough to enjoy the rest of the night.

….

Jake looked at the clock again, groaning when he saw it was only half past two. After battling it out with Embry the night before, Jake had let himself relax a little too much, staying out at the beach much later then he usually would have when he had work early the next morning. He had crawled into bed sometime after 3 am, and he was feeling the after effects today. He couldn't wait for five o'clock to roll around so he could go home and get some sleep.

Trying to concentrate, Jake went back to working on the transmission in the '95 Nissan Sentra that had been brought in earlier in the afternoon. It was an automatic but the car wouldn't reverse when shifted into that gear. Jake had figured either the servo had to be defective or the band was broken. He was just starting to check on the servo when he heard someone say his name.

He froze for a second; that voice had been haunting him for days. "Jake, can I talk to you for a minute, please?" he heard her ask. He came up from beneath the hood slowly and there she was, not more than 20 feet in front of him. Renesmee looked beautiful; standing as she was with the sun to her back, it almost looked like she was glowing. She wore a pair of very tiny jean shorts and a red tank top. Her Copper hair was pulled back, away from her face, and Jacob loved how it left the long lines of her neck exposed.

He was confused; he hadn't expected to see her again and had decided to write her off, _what does this mean? _He asked himself.

He walked to his right, around the hood of the car, making his way closer to her. He stopped before he was half way, grabbed a rag off the workbench and wiped the grease off of his hands. He continued towards her and asked, "I thought you left?"

Renesmee had begun to answer his question, "I did," but stopped with a gasp when Jake had reached her and she suddenly asked, "What happened to your face?" as she reached up with her hand and touched the area around his right eye.

Jake couldn't believe he had forgotten about his black eye. He had been too groggy to really pay attention to himself in the mirror that morning and so he had no clue how bad he actually looked. "It's okay," he said, "just horsing around with the guys, got too close to an elbow."

"Does it hurt?" she asked as she gently ran her fingertips over his brow and down the side of his face.

Jake was having a hard time breathing, she was touching him and he couldn't seem to focus on anything but that. "No," was all he could manage to get out.

She smiled at him then and dropped her hand. Jake immediately missed the contact and he ached to take her hands in his and place them back on his body, anywhere, as long as she was touching him. But he resisted, waiting to hear what she had to say; he still didn't know why she'd come and he was afraid to hope.

"I did leave," she said, picking up where she had left off before getting sidetracked by his face. "But I couldn't stay away. I feel like I owe you an apology and an explanation for the other night."

"Okay," Jake began, "but it's a long drive from Seattle. I know you have my number, if all you wanted to do was explain, you could have called."

He watched as she dropped her eyes to the ground and brought her hands together in front of her. "I had to see you," she whispered so low he could barely hear.

Jake took a step closer to Renesmee, there was hardly an inch separating them now. He could smell her in this new position, she smelled like strawberries and some other scent that Jake couldn't identify, but he loved it. All he would have to do was lean in slightly and her breasts would make contact with his chest. He lowered his head instead and brought his lips closer to her ear to whisper back, "So you're here, now what?" And he lifted his head to look into her eyes.

She looked nervous and a little unsure of herself, but she didn't back down. "Can you come to the house tonight, after work?" she asked.

Jake waited a second before answering, he wanted to believe in this girl, and he wanted her to believe in him as well. She had made an effort, she was here, and Jake knew the ball was in his court. He could either take the next step and play this thing with her out; or he could turn her away, send her home, and probably spend the rest of his life wondering what if.

"Yeah," he said after considering, "I'll come." It was simple; she had taken the first step in coming to him. And Jake was willing to take every step hereafter and do whatever he had to do to assure she'd never regret it.

**A/N: So, I hope none of you are too mad at me or Renesmee. But if you're wondering how or why she decided to go back to Forks, here's a little 411 for you – the next chapter is going to flashback 24 hours to the night before and show Renesmee having a heart to heart with someone close to her and divulging everything she's been feeling over the past year and especially about Jake. Can't wait to hear what you think.**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: I was hoping to have this chapter up yesterday, but I got sick. I had almost the whole thing done and then I had to scrap it and start all over b/c in my Nyquil induced haze I hadn't realized that it was crap. But I wrote this 2****nd**** version while still under the influence, so if it's crap too we'll just continue to blame it on the Nyquil (-:**

**Thanks again to all who are reading and another thanks to those who have reviewed. As I mentioned at the end of the last chapter, this one will have a flashback to help explain where Renesmee is coming from and why she showed up in Forks again. The flashback will be in her POV instead of third person. Enjoy!**

Renesmee went around the kitchen of the old white house trying to get everything in order. She knew it wouldn't be long before Jake would arrive and she wanted things to go smoothly. After leaving the shop earlier that afternoon, she had stopped by the market. Remembering that Jake had mentioned pizza being one of his favorite foods, she decided to pick up all of the necessary items to make it from scratch. The only thing he hadn't mentioned was what he liked on his pizza, so Renesmee had picked up every meat topping she could think of; all Jake would have to do when he got there was add what he liked before she put it in the oven to finish cooking.

In the back of her mind, a little nagging voice was whispering that things may not go as she was hoping, that she might have misread things and that Jake might not be feeling the same as she was. But it was just self-doubt and self-consciousness trying to cloud her better sense and overshadow everything she felt pass between them whenever she looked at Jacob. She ignored the voice and instead chose to focus on her reasons for coming back to Forks and the conversation she had had that caused her to make one of the biggest decisions she had ever made; one that would undoubtedly change the entire course of her life.

…**..**

I couldn't get him out of my head, it had been 4 days since I'd last seen him and I still couldn't stop thinking about him. I knew I needed some advice so I called the only person I felt I could be totally honest with, my Aunt Rosalie.

She was sitting across from me now, in the dimly lit bar we'd decided to meet at, sipping from the vodka soda she had ordered. It had been a few minutes but I still hadn't said anything, I needed to start talking, but I wasn't sure I knew where to begin. I sighed and picked up my wine, figuring it would help loosen me up a bit.

I watched as Rose eyed me, I knew she was wondering why I'd asked her to meet me, but I also knew she'd let me have the time I needed to gather my thoughts and speak when I was ready.

Rose smiled at me and I took a moment to admire her; at 46 she was still as breathtakingly beautiful as she had been in her twenties. Her long blond hair was pulled back into an elegant French braid and her blue eyes sparkled, highlighted by a pale pink shimmery shadow.

She had met my Uncle Emmett when I was three. I was too young to remember, but growing up I had been told the story on numerous occasions of how my heroic uncle had rescued Rose from being harassed by a group of strange men while walking home one night. He had been walking as well and had heard the cries coming from behind a rundown building off the main road and he just couldn't ignore it. Although I'm sure nothing about the situation was funny at the time, over the years the story has become quite comical as the size of the men and number have increased; currently I believe there were around 12 guys, all over 7 feet tall and weighing roughly 300 pounds. After Emmett single handedly fought off the men, he took Rose back to his place, which was just a couple blocks away, to fix her up. They were inseparable after that, and three months later they eloped in Vegas. Rose had played a major role in my life from that point forward. They were never able to have children of their own and I always felt that having me made up for that fact to my aunt; although as the years passed she treated me more as a younger sister then a daughter. It was because of that that I'd called her today.

I took a few more sips from my glass of wine and then set it down; I was finally ready to start talking. "So, I guess you're wondering why I asked you to meet me."

Rose kept quiet, waiting for me to continue before offering any input. "I went away last weekend. Michael and I…" And then I stopped, because that wasn't right, it wasn't Michael, it was me. "No, not Michael, just me. I've been having second thoughts."

There, I'd said it, it was out…but Rose looked confused. "Second thoughts about what? And where did you go?" she asked.

I took a deep breath and then finished off the wine in my glass, needing a bit more liquid courage to continue. "I went to Forks." I started with the where thinking that would be easiest to explain. "I went by myself and instead of telling Michael where I was going, I told him I'd be at a Spa in Tacoma."

Rosalie sat up a little straighter and eyed me before asking, "Why'd you lie to him?"

"I don't know," I said, because I didn't know, I had no reason to lie, nothing to hide at the time, but I had a reason to keep it from him now, and that's what I needed to get to. "I honestly don't Rose. But something happened while I was there."

She narrowed her gaze and asked, "What did you do?" I could hear the accusation in her voice.

"I didn't do anything," I started; I had to make sure she believed that nothing had happened. "I met someone, but I promise you nothing happened. We had dinner and we talked, that's all."

Rose seemed to be contemplating what I'd said as she sipped from her drink. "So let me see if I've got this. You told your husband that you'd be at a spa last weekend but instead went to stay at Carlisle and Esme's house in Forks for no reason. While there, you met a man that you _didn't _have sex with and now you're having second thoughts about your marriage?"

"No," I nearly shouted. The way she had said it made it all sound so bad, I had to explain myself. "That's not all there is to it."

"Well you better do a better job of explaining yourself hunny because from where I'm sitting and what you've been saying, that's exactly how it seems. You've been with Michael for three years, and if my memory serves your 1st wedding anniversary is right around the corner. You've never given any of us any reason to think you weren't happy. What gives?"

I sighed, this was a lot harder then I had imagined, and she was right, I'd never so much as hinted to anyone in my family that I was anything less than 100 percent happy with Michael; but there was a lot they didn't know. "I'm not having second thoughts because of where I went or who I met. I've been feeling unfulfilled for a while and I needed to get away and do some thinking. I didn't say that to Michael, but I did tell him that I needed some _me time_. He's the one that assumed I'd being going to some spa. I just didn't correct him."

"Renesmee, if you've been unhappy for a while, why didn't you come to me sooner?"

"I don't know." I began. "I thought it was just the lifestyle. Michael and his family, they live in a different world then we do. There's always some party we have to make an appearance at and then there's that silly social committee his mother said I just had to join. And Michael's so busy at work all the time, unless there's some pre-planned event he's hardly ever home. There's so much more that I wanted out of life, I went to College, I had plans, I never expected to end up being some trophy wife."

Rose shook her head as she started speaking, "Michael has always seemed so devoted to you, I can't believe he'd keep you from something you really wanted."

I let out a sigh before answering. "I know Michael loves me, he just doesn't see things the way I do. I tried to talk to him about it once, I told him how I wanted to open my own art gallery and start painting again. He told me I should bring up the idea of volunteering at the Seattle Art Museum to his mother and the committee. The committee, what a joke," I scoffed before continuing. "Their idea of volunteering is showing up and writing a check. They wouldn't know what real volunteering was if it bit them in the ass. I don't want to end up like those women, and if Michael really knew me, he'd understand that."

"Okay," Rose began somewhat hesitantly. "So didn't you consider any of this before you married him? You knew who he was and what his family was like. Alice has been telling us stories about all of those women for years. Or were you just so in love you didn't care?" She finished with a smirk.

_So in love? _I thought to myself. There were many things I felt about Michael at the beginning of our relationship, he was smart and kind and funny and handsome, but was I blinded by love? _Definitely not._ "No Rose, I wasn't so in love that I didn't care. Actually, I wasn't in love at all."

I watched as the disbelief transformed Rosalie's features. I knew she'd have a hard time believing this, but if I was coming clean I had to tell her everything. So I started at the beginning. "All through high school and college, I listened to my friends and other girls talk about guys. I heard them go on and on about love and lust and chemistry and sparks."

I paused to take a breath and looked towards Rose, she nodded her head but stayed silent, so I continued, "But I'd never experienced any of that. I'd met hundreds of guys, I'd gone out on date after date, but I never felt that spark that they talked about, and I certainly never lusted over any of them. After a while, I started to think that maybe it was all just an illusion, something they'd all just tricked themselves into believing was real after all the movies and books they'd read. But in reality, maybe it just didn't work like that."

I stopped when I saw Rose raise her right brow. "Hold on just a minute, how can you doubt that love exists? Look at me and Emmett or Alice and Jasper even. After what Alice went through with James and then Victoria, how can you not believe in love?"

I paused for a moment and took in what my aunt had said. I could remember everything that Alice had gone through with her ex-husband James and I knew how hard it was for her after meeting Jasper to finally accept him. I also knew that it was because of him that Alice and my cousin Cole were still here with us. But I had never considered my family when forming my own opinions on love all those years ago. "I'm not saying I didn't believe in love at all, I just didn't buy into all of that hopelessly devoted, weak kneed, starry eyed love business. I didn't know anything about life or love and somehow I got it all twisted and started believing that I was the one who knew the truth and everyone else was wrong. But even though I believed strongly that all that sappy, soul mate stuff was just an illusion, I still didn't want to be alone. I felt that somewhere out there was a nice, decent guy that I could be happy with; and then Aunt Alice introduced me to Michael."

The waitress chose that moment to check on us and I ordered a second glass of wine. Still working on her first, Rose declined another drink and the waitress left to get mine. As soon as she was out of ear shot, Rose spoke. "I remember what it was like, being young and thinking you know everything. I just wish you would have talked to me about all of this back then."

I shook my head before replying. "Even if I would have come to you about it, I doubt you would have changed my mind. When I met Michael, I thought it was normal that he didn't make me giddy or nervous, I told myself I wouldn't be like the other girls and trick myself into believing I felt those things. Instead, I built a connection with him based on mutual interests and respect, and I tricked myself into believing that those things were enough."

I could tell Rose had something she wanted to say to that but I continued on without giving her a chance to respond. "When Michael proposed, I was happy. He'd always treated me like a princess. I knew the family he came from, but I never thought he'd be the type of husband that would want a wife that spent her time shopping and planning parties and going to the spa. I assumed he'd have his interests and I'd have mine without actually talking about it. I thought we'd have a nice life together, so I said yes. I just want you to know I do care about him. Michael is a wonderful man. He works hard and I appreciate everything he's ever done for me. But in the three years we've been together, he's never made my heart race or skip a beat, he's never made my knees weak, he's never given me chills. I'm not in love with him Rose, and I've come to realize that I want that."

I felt as though a weight had been lifted from my shoulders, it felt good to talk about these things. I gave Rose a moment to take it all in and respond; I needed to know what she thought. "So is this where the mystery guy from Forks comes in?" She asked after a minute.

I could feel my cheeks heat up and I lowered my head. My damn blushing was an annoying trait I had inherited from my mother. I pretended to be fixated on my glass as I began to explain. "I wasn't looking for anyone Rose. I meant what I said before, I wanted to get away because I thought I felt stifled by my life. It's only been these past few days that I realized it's not just the lifestyle I've been living that's leaving me wanting more, it's my marriage and my feelings for Michael, or lack thereof I should say."

Finally getting my emotions under control, I was able to look back up at my aunt as I finished speaking. "And yes, this is where the mystery guy from Forks comes in, because all of those things I didn't think could really exist, all of those things that Michael has never made me feel, this guy did."

"Okay, so what are you saying Renesmee? Are you going to leave your husband for some guy you just met?"

Her questions crashed into me, until that moment I hadn't been sure what all of this was building up to. I had thought I just needed to get it all out in the open, talk to someone about everything I'd been thinking and feeling over the past year and the past couple of days especially and get some advice. But was there more? Did my subconscious have an ulterior motive? Is that why I called my most liberal aunt to talk to about all of this? Was I looking for someone to tell me it was okay to leave my husband for a guy I had just met? Wasn't that crazy? All of these thoughts swam through my head as I sat starring at Rose, not able to speak for a few moments.

And then, finally, it was like someone had flipped a switch, and it started to make sense. I knew I was missing something with Michael, I had acknowledged that. But I also knew I couldn't have it with just anyone, and I didn't want just anyone, I wanted Jake. "Rose, I know it sounds crazy but, if fate and true love and soul mates really do exist, what if this is it? I can't explain what I felt when we were together, but it was like, I was drawn to him. I'm starting to put the little pieces together to see the big picture, and it seems like things have been leading me to him."

I watched Rosalie chuckle and shake her head at me. For a moment I thought she was going to tell me I was being ridiculous and I wasn't able to breathe as I waiting for her to speak. "You sound like I did when I first met Emmett. You know, everyone thought we were crazy when we eloped, even your parents who rushed to get married right out of high school. But we just knew, and we never looked back."

I felt relieved that she seemed to understand and I was about to say so until she added, "I just have one question for you. What about Michael?"

And the relief vanished. "I…" _I what_, I asked myself after I couldn't think of anything else to say that sounded right, that would make this okay. But the truth was there wasn't anything I could say that would make this right, not for Michael. "I don't want to hurt him, but in the long run, doesn't he deserve someone that's going to love him just as much as he loves her?"

Rose seemed to consider that for a moment before she answered, "Yes he does. But he's not gonna see it that way right now, and definitely not if you tell him about this other guy. Maybe you should just leave that part out. And with your anniversary coming up, I don't know if it would be better to do it before or after, either way, it's not going to be easy."

I let out a false laugh at that. "I know, believe me. But at least the matter of when is settled. Michael's in New York right now and won't be back for at least another week, so he won't be here for our anniversary anyway."

"Well then at least you won't have to go home tonight and pretend everything's okay…But what are you going to do until he gets back?" she asked giving me a playful smile and a wink.

I snorted at that, was she insinuating that I go back to Forks? I would love to but, should I? Would he even want to see me again after how we'd left things? That thought gave me pause; in all of this, I'd forgotten that Jake hadn't exactly left expecting to see me again. I had to explain things to him, get him to understand I had only been trying to do the right thing, and there was no time like the present. Michael would be gone for at least another week. I had plenty of time to head back to Forks and talk things over with Jake. If he felt the same as I did and wanted to really give this thing a chance, I could move into Grandma and Grandpa's house for a while, I knew they wouldn't mind. I'd have to get a job, but that shouldn't be too difficult...And then I put the brakes on, I was getting ahead of myself. First things first, I'd talk to Jake, if we were on the same page, great. If not, well then, I'd cross that bridge when I got to it.

After taking a minute to play all of that out in my head I was finally satisfied, I knew what my next step would be and I couldn't wait to take it. Returning a smile back in Rose's direction I answered, "I think I'll be taking a trip to Forks this weekend."

…**..**

Hearing the doorbell broke Renesmee out of her thoughts. She picked up the towel lying on the counter and wiped her hands off before making her way to the foyer to get the door.

She paused for a moment when she got there before opening it._ Okay, breath, relax, everything is gonna be fine, _she told herself. Taking one last deep breath, Renesmee opened the door.

**A/N: Okay so I ended it here b/c I wanted this chapter to be a look inside Renesmee's head. Also, I'm still coming down off the Nyquil high and I want to be totally clear headed when I write the Jake/Ness stuff. Thanks for reading.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Here we go, things are gonna start picking up for our love birds from here out – And the story will start earning its M rating. So if you're not comfortable with details, here's your warning. Thanks to all who have reviewed, I love hearing what you think!**

As Jacob turned onto the trail that would lead him up to the old white house, he began to feel nervous. The hours since Renesmee had left him at the garage had passed even slower than those of the morning. He'd passed the time by playing out different scenarios in his head of how tonight would go, every one of them ending with his body pressed up against hers. It wasn't that all he wanted from her was sex, far from it. He wanted to get to know her, he wanted to take her out and introduce her to his friends and family. But at the same time, he had to touch her, kiss her, feel her hands on him; it was like a compulsion, and no matter how tame his scenarios started out, they always seemed to end the same way. But now that he was here, he was beginning to lose his nerve.

When he reached the end of the driveway, Jake killed the engine and lowered the kickstand on his bike. He got off and made his way up to the front door, giving himself a little pep talk along the way, _just remember to breathe and relax. Smile, tell her she looks nice and you're happy she asked you to come over. _He repeated this to himself as he rang the doorbell and waited for her to answer.

After a minute, Jake could hear footsteps getting closer on the other side of the door and everything he'd been thinking flew out of his head. When the door opened and she was finally standing there in front of him, Jake couldn't think of anything to say.

They each stood there for a moment, not saying anything, just taking the other in. She looked beautiful. Jake noticed that she had changed from earlier; she was wearing a halter top dress with different shades of green and blue and white flowers. It stopped a few inches above her knees and although Jake loved how it left so much of her alabaster skin exposed, he was beginning to feel a little self-conscious. He'd come straight from work and he was still wearing the same jeans and white shirt he'd had on all day. Looking down at himself, he could clearly see the evidence of his work; grease and dirt were smeared and splattered in various spots along his legs. His shirt was mostly clean due to the blue button up he wore over it, but he still felt under dressed.

However, if Jake could have read her mind, he'd have known how much Renesmee disagreed with him. The moment she opened the door and saw him, her heart started pounding in her chest and she was grateful he couldn't hear. _He looks Delicious,_ she thought and then laughed to herself. She'd never used that word to describe a person before, but thinking it over, she decided that it fit extremely well. He was wearing another well-fitted shirt, but this one was white and she could just make out the lines of his muscles underneath. She could see the smears of grease on his jeans as well and all together it gave her a pleasant thrill. She knew he was a man who worked hard with his hands and body and it made her think about all the ways he could work her.

They each seemed to realize in the same instant that they'd been starring and Jake gave Renesmee a sheepish smile while she blushed in return. After clearing her throat, she finally found her voice. "Hey Jake. Uh, thanks for coming over. Come on in," and she stepped back, opening the door wider to give him room to pass.

Jake nodded and wiped his shoes off on the mat outside the door before making his way into the house. "Thanks for having me. You look real good. I'm sorry I didn't change before comin' over."

Renesmee shut the door and turned to face Jake, a slight blush on her cheeks from his compliment. "Thank you, and…" she paused, trying to compose herself so she could say this next part without going up in flames, "you didn't need to change, you look real good too."

Those 5 words made Jakes head spin, _she thinks I look good, _he thought to himself. He gave her a half smile and couldn't stop himself from taking a step towards her, he just needed one touch.

_God he's sexy when he smiles like that, _she thought, and then froze when he took a step closer; he had long legs, it was a big step.

Only a few inches separated them now and as Jake raised his hand, Renesmee's heart started beating double time in her chest, but she didn't back away. She wanted…no, she _had_ to see what he would do. When his fingers touched the side of her face, she stopped breathing.

Very delicately, as if he were afraid he'd break her, Jake brushed his fingers down the side of her cheek and back up before tucking her hair behind her ear. He dropped his hand back to his side then but didn't step away.

As he stood there starring at her, Renesmee wasn't sure what she should do. She wanted to go to him, she wanted to run her hands up his chest, over his shoulders and into his hair; but she wasn't sure if she should. She thought she should say something but her throat had gone dry and she had to swallow a couple of times before she could talk. "I, um…" she paused to let out a nervous chuckle. "Are you hungry?"

Jake was feeling a lot of things at that moment; want, need, desire. But hunger wasn't one of them, well, at least not for food. He could tell that she was nervous though and he knew he had to tone it down. She had invited him here, she must have had an agenda, a purpose; he didn't want to push her so he'd let her set the pace. Taking a step back to give them both room to breathe he said, "I'm pretty much always up for eating, especially if you're doing the cooking."

Remembering what Jake had said about him being a horrible cook, Renesmee let out a chuckle as she turned and started towards the kitchen. "Yes," she began, "I'll be doing the cooking. In fact, everything's almost already done, I just need your help with one thing."

Jake followed but after hearing that he hesitated. "Uh, help with what exactly? I really meant what I said last time Ness, I'm no good in the kitchen."

Renesmee turned to look at him, she was going to tease him, but something else he had said registered and she changed her mind and asked, "What did you say?"

Jacob held up his hands and smiled as he said, "I told you last time, I have absolutely no cooking abilities."

"No not that," she said, waving her hand to dismiss what he'd said. "Did you call me…Ness?" She asked hesitantly.

"Oh, um…" He broke off to run a nervous hand through his hair. He'd been calling her that to himself the past few days, but he hadn't meant for it to come out and he was worried about what she'd think of it. "Yeah, sorry, I've sorta been calling you that…in my head."

"You have?" She asked. Renesmee knew how much she'd been thinking about Jake over the past week, but she had no idea if he'd been thinking about her as well until that moment. She realized it made her happy to know he had, more than happy actually, it made her ecstatic. She didn't care what Jake called her, in fact, she kind of liked that he'd come up with his own name for her.

"Yeah," he said, managing to look sheepish. "Renesmee is a beautiful name, but it's kind of a mouthful and-"

She cut him off then and said, "Its okay, I like it…and you're right, Renesmee is a mouthful."

Jake looked relieved as he asked. "Really, you don't mind?"

"Of course not. I've never had a nick-name before, it's nice."

"Okay then…Ness." Jake said tentatively, like he was trying it out.

She didn't know why, but hearing him call her Ness made her blush and she turned back around to head to the kitchen, hoping he hadn't seen. "Anyway, don't worry about your lack of culinary skills, I promise I won't leave you in charge of anything," she said, trying to change the subject.

When she headed off, Jake followed. He'd seen her blush but didn't know what had embarrassed her, and he was afraid to ask and risk making her uncomfortable. He could tell she wanted to change the subject anyway and he decided to focus on dinner. Since she had brought it up, he discovered he was hungry after all.

….

Once they'd made it to the kitchen and Ness had revealed what she was making, she'd explained that all Jake needed to do was tell her what kind of toppings he wanted on his pizza. After the selections were made and the pizzas were placed in the oven to finish cooking, they'd talked about random things to pass the time. She'd asked again about his black eye and if it hurt, but Jake had brushed it off, embarrassed about picking a fight with his friend over her. He'd changed the subject by offering to set the table and Ness accepted.

Now Jake watched as she sat across the table from him, eating her pizza. They'd been sitting in silence for the past few minutes, but it wasn't awkward, it was comfortable. Every few seconds, his eyes would make their way to hers and he'd find her starring back or just looking away. He liked the fact that she seemed to be just as interested in him as he was in her.

She knew he'd been watching her as they ate, she could feel his eyes on her and every now and then, she'd look back. When their eyes would meet, it was hard to look away. They were beautiful, the darkest brown she'd ever seen, and she felt like she could lose herself in them.

Remembering her reasons for asking Jake over, she decided to concentrate on her pizza. It would be all too easy to give herself over to what she was feeling, what he made her feel, and forget what she needed to tell him. She hadn't been exaggerating when she talked about Jake with her aunt; when she was around him, she felt as if some unseen force were pulling her towards him, everything else disappeared and it was just the two of them. It was equally the best and scariest thing she'd ever experienced.

The shared silence was nice, but it was just making it easier for her to get wrapped up in the things Jake made her feel, so she decided to break it. Knowing Jake was watching, she picked up a slice of her pizza, plucked a black olive off of it and popped it into her mouth. "Are you sure you don't want to try some of my pizza?" she asked, a wicked grin spreading across her face.

In answer, Jake picked up a slice of his pizza, piled high with three different types of meat and extra cheese, and tore off a huge piece. His mouth was clearly too full to be able to speak, but Ness didn't miss the Mmmm sound he made. She watched as he chewed and was finally able to swallow the monster size bite he took. "Nope," he began when he was able to talk again, "besides, can you really call what you're eating pizza when it's covered in all those veggies? Pizza is supposed to be junk food, you've got hardly any cheese on yours and more vegetables than I eat in a month." He finished with an incredulous look on his face.

Ness took a substantially smaller bite from her piece as she listened and tried not to choke from laughter at the look on Jake's face as he described her pizza. "What happened to the man who said last weekend that he'd try any vegetables I made?" she asked.

"Ah, I'm afraid you're wrong about that," he started. "What I said was that I would reconsider eating them if you made them taste as good as that salad you made. But, if you wanted me to eat the veggies, you shouldn't have given me all those meats to choose from. You should've just made the pizza your way and I would've happily ate it." He paused to take another, smaller bite of his pizza before shrugging, "I'm a man, if I've got the choice between vegetables and meat, I'm gonna choose meat every time. You might wanna keep that in mind the next time you cook for me." He finished with a wink.

Ness laughed and set down the end of her pizza. She picked up her napkin to wipe her hands as she said, "Thanks for the tips, I'll be sure to remember that for next time."

Jake watched as she set down her napkin, pushed away from the table, picked up her plate and stood. His eyes followed her as she made her way to the sink, hypnotized by the sway of her hips. He'd only eaten a couple slices, but suddenly he wasn't hungry for pizza anymore.

As quietly as he could, he got up from his chair and started towards her. He told himself that he just wanted to be close to her, smell her, touch her soft skin. But a part of him knew that once he started, he might not be able to stop; he decided to take the risk anyway.

Ness's back was facing Jake, she'd turned the water on in the sink to rinse the plate so she hadn't heard him approach. But when she felt his warm hands settle on her hips and spread out, she gasped and gripped the counter top with her hands. She hadn't been expecting it, but the minute he touched her and she knew how close he was, it was like a fire started spreading throughout her body. She felt him get closer, his chest was pressed flush against her back now and she could feel the heat radiating off of his body. She leaned her head back onto his chest and he dipped his head down to hers. His mouth was so close to her ear, she could feel his breath as he exhaled and it sent a chill down her body.

The second Jake had reached her, had her pressed against himself, he was lost. She felt so good, he wanted to run his hands over every inch of her body but he had to go slow, he wanted to take his time and enjoy her. He dipped his head a little lower and softly ran his lips down the curve of her neck and then back up towards her ear. "Ness, turn around," he whispered into her ear. He needed to kiss her and he wanted to feel her hands slide up his arms and wrap around his neck as he did.

She heard Jakes plea and complied, letting go of the counter and turning in his arms. When she faced him, he moved closer and her backside pressed up against the cabinet. She could feel all of him against her body and a ripple of desire coursed through her stronger than anything she'd ever felt. Her hands made their way up, resting on his forearms and then sliding up to his biceps, squeezing them. Her gaze traveled up his chest, over his neck and passed his lips until her eyes locked with his. They were so much darker and filled with something, a desire, a need, and she could see in that moment how much he wanted her.

Jake started to lower his head then, keeping his eyes on hers, and Ness knew he was going to kiss her. She wanted it, she had to feel his lips on hers. But just before they made contact, she remembered; she hadn't explained things to him yet.

His tongue came out and licked his lips, he was just about to kiss her, he was so close. Her hands left his arms and pressed against his chest, but not like they were trying to feel him, like they were trying to stop him, and Jake pulled back, confused. He looked down at her, a question in his eyes but unable to get anything out.

Ness could tell Jake didn't understand why she'd stopped him. But she had to tell him, explain, make sure he knew everything before going on, he deserved the chance to choose once he knew all the facts. "I'm sorry, I didn't want to stop but…I asked you here tonight because I had to explain why I acted the way I did last time, and I can't keep going until I do."

Jake felt himself relax, for a second he had been afraid she was going to reject him. Now that he knew she only stopped him because she wanted to apologize, he was right back to wanting to kiss her. He didn't care why she'd turned him away, he was over it and he'd forgiven her the second she'd showed up at the garage this afternoon. "It's okay, it doesn't matter, you're here now," he said and smiled down at her.

He did crazy things to her insides when he smiled like that and Ness knew that she had to put some distance between them if she was going to be able to get this out. Just as he was about to lower his head again, she shimmied down and out under his arm. She turned, the counter was to her left now and she braced one hand on it as she held up the other. "No, you don't understand, it does matter." Jake turned to face her then, he was still smiling but she saw something else in his eyes, something that made her think she was heading for trouble, and she took a step backwards.

He felt like he was going crazy, that if he didn't get her back in his arms, he'd combust. It had turned into a game for him and he was determined to win. He just had to prove to her that all he cared about was that she was here, with him. "I only have three questions for you," he started as he took a small step towards her. "Do you care that I'm just a mechanic?"

"No." She answered automatically, taking another step backwards to compensate for his.

Jake smiled in response to her answer and her retreat, but he didn't relent. He took another step forward, bigger this time and asked, "Do you care that I don't have a lot of money?"

"Of course not," she replied as she tried to retreat back but was startled to feel something hard and cool against her legs, _the wall_, she thought to herself.

Jake saw it the moment she realized she could go back no further. The wall was behind her, the counter was to her left and he was in front. She could escape to the right, but he didn't think she would. She had a look on her face that reminded him of a deer caught in the headlights and Jake paused before making his final move, giving her a chance to compose herself. All traces of humor left his face as he asked his last question, "Do you care that I live in a small town, on an even smaller reservation, and that I probably always will?"

His line of questioning startled her. In all of the time she had spent obsessing over this man, never once had any of those things ever given her pause and she couldn't believe he had thought they would. She looked up into his eyes and all she could see now was how important her answer was to him, so she put him out of his misery, "No, I don't care"

Before all of the words were even out of her mouth, Jake made the final move. He had her back in his arms and he pressed his body into hers, a low growl rumbling in his chest. He dropped his head slowly, starring into her eyes the whole way, but he didn't go right to her lips. Instead, he brought his mouth to her ear and whispered, "That's all I need to know." Then, in a move so fast she almost missed it, he brought his head back and his lips collided with hers.

As soon as their lips met, all thoughts other then Jake and what he was doing to her left her head. She let her hands roam, they started on his forearms and made their way up, pausing to squeeze his biceps and then higher, winding around his neck and up into his hair. She felt his teeth nip at her bottom lip and then his tongue darted out to run over it, soothing it. A groan escaped her lips when she felt it, she couldn't help herself, it was wet and warm and all Jacob and she wanted to feel it again.

She parted her lips, giving Jake permission to take the kiss further, and he did. Expertly, he took her bottom lip into his mouth and began to suck. His hands, which had stayed locked on her hips up to this point, began to wander. They made their way up and around to her lower back and he splayed his fingers out, the tips of his pinky and ring fingers brushing over the top of her backside. He paused there, enjoying the feel.

Ness enjoyed it as well, but she didn't want his hands to stop, she wanted them to move lower, squeeze her, but she was too shy to ask. Instead she focused on his lips, until now he'd been doing all of the tasting and she thought it was about time she had a turn. Very slowly, as if she were experimenting, she moved her tongue forward, until finally it touched his top lip. This time Jake groaned and hearing that sound made Ness bolder. She reached her tongue out further and finally she found his.

As soon as their tongues touched, Jake felt himself twitch. He couldn't believe the things this woman was doing to him, the things she was making him feel. He felt like he was an inexperienced virgin all over again, he hadn't gotten hard from just making out since he was in high school. But he wouldn't trade a minute of it. He let his hands go further down and stop on the full, round globes of her ass. He held her there, tight in his grasp, as he pressed himself more firmly into her. He heard her let out a little gasp then and he knew she could feel all of him.

But it wasn't enough; he wanted her closer, so he let his hands slide down a little further. He stopped when he reached the top of her thighs and he squeezed the soft flesh there through the material of her dress. He wrapped each hand securely around the back of her thighs, and then he lifted.

When she felt Jake lift her, she got startled and broke the kiss, letting out a little Oh.

But she got the idea when Jake said, "wrap your legs around me Ness."

His voice was so deep and husky; it sent a shiver down her spine. She complied, wrapping her legs around his waist and locking her ankles together to hold him there. She liked the idea of Jake being imprisoned between her thighs. They were so much closer in this new position. Even through his jeans she could feel him pressed against her, and she began to ache. She flexed her butt and thigh muscles and it brought her even closer. They both let out a moan at the glorious friction it created. Seeing that it had clearly felt just as good to Jake as it had to her, she repeated the move, rubbing herself against his hardness.

Jake closed his eyes and dropped his head back, losing himself in the sensation; she just felt so good. The next time she flexed he held her there with his hands, rubbing himself against her again and again until he heard her cry out his name.

Suddenly reality started to seep into Jakes brain and he realized that things had gone a lot further a lot faster than he'd wanted them to. He'd let himself get carried away and now he was just a couple minutes away from having sex with Ness against the wall of her kitchen. He loosened his grip on her backside, enough so that she was no longer pressed so firmly against him but not enough to where she'd fall.

Ness felt the difference in Jake immediately and it was like a bucket of cold water had just been poured over her, effectively dousing the flames. She couldn't even explain what had come over her. She knew she was attracted to him, but she had completely lost control of herself. She could feel her cheeks heating up and all she could think about was putting a little distance between herself and Jake. "Can you – can you please let me down?"

Jake complied immediately. As soon as he lowered Ness to the ground and let go, he stepped back to give her some room.

"I'm sorry…I don't know what came over me." She said as she wrapped her arms around herself, not looking up from the floor once.

He felt terrible, he'd let himself get carried away and now she was apologizing. Worst of all, she wouldn't even look at him and he had the feeling she was about ready to make a run for it. He had to fix the situation and fast. Hesitantly, he reached out his hand. She didn't try to back away when he placed it on the side of her arm and he took it as a good sign.

"Ness," he said, trying to get her to look at him. When she didn't, he decided to get a little closer and he took a step towards her. She didn't move, but she didn't look up either, so Jake took the hand that had been resting on her arm and moved it to her chin. Gently, he lifted her head so that she was looking at him.

"You don't have anything to be sorry about, we both just got a little ahead of ourselves." He whispered.

Ness didn't know how he did it, but even when she was more embarrassed than she'd ever been in her entire life, he managed to send chills down her body. She tried to look away again, but Jake's hand held her chin firmly and she couldn't.

"You don't know what you do to me. When you look at me, when you touch me, it's like I can't think." She confessed

Surprised by her statement, Jake couldn't stop himself from moving his hand up slightly to cup her cheek in his palm. "You do the same thing to me. You make me forget my own name." He admitted.

It made Ness happy to know she wasn't the only one feeling this way. She was still a little embarrassed, but Jake was slowly making her feel better. "I'm glad I'm not the only one," she said with a smirk.

"Of course you're not," he stated as if it were obvious. "And as good as it feels to lose control sometimes…I wanna do this the right way."

"What do you mean?" she starred at him as his expression changed and he gave her that sexy half grin of his that made her want to melt.

"Well," he began, dragging out the e sound, "what do you say to goin on a date with me?" He asked as he moved his hand around to the back of her neck and started fingering the fine hairs at the nape.

"A date? Like a real dinner and a movie type of date?" She couldn't help the excitement that spread through her at the thought of going on a real date with Jake.

"Yeah," he answered, chuckling softly; the look on her face was just so…cute. "Like a real dinner and a movie date. I get off work at three tomorrow, I'd just wanna go home and shower and change first. I could be here by five, if that's okay with you?"

"Five is perfect." She said, and then, "but tonight is still early. You weren't going to leave yet, were you?" She bit her lip nervously waiting for his reply. Things had heated up a lot faster then she had expected them to, but she felt like she had herself under control now and she really didn't want Jake to leave.

"No," he answered. "I'm not going anywhere." And then Jake remembered what they'd been doing before their wild make-out session had started and his stomach growled.

Ness had heard it but she couldn't believe that noise had actually come from Jacob's stomach and she burst out laughing.

"I can't believe it. Here I am, half starved, and you're laughing at me?" Jake said, trying to sound put out.

It took a second but Ness was able to get her laughter under control long enough to say, "I'm sorry, it was just so unexpected…and loud." And then she started laughing again.

Jake knew how to effectively silence her laughter and he tilted his head down a little closer to hers, "What can I say, you know how to make a man work up an appetite." And then, very softly, he brushed his lips against hers before pulling back.

Ness starred up at him, her lips slightly parted and he wanted nothing more than to lean in and kiss her again. But he knew where that would most likely lead so he resisted. Instead he pulled back, removing his hand from her neck and smiled down at her.

Just that one kiss had her going again and Ness knew she'd have to be careful around him. She wanted him, but she didn't want to rush things. She was grateful that Jake seemed to want the same thing. So, she reigned in her desires and smiled back at him. "Why don't we go heat up some more of that pizza?"

Jake's grin just grew wider as he said, "I was hoping you'd say that."

Ness made her way around Jake, heading to the pizza. She was just about to grab a few slices from Jake's pepperoni, sausage and bacon pizza when he stopped her.

"I wanna try some of yours." 

**A/N: So I hope you liked it and I can't wait to hear what you thought.**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: Yea it's another chapter. I really liked writing this one, some familiar faces show up and of course more Jake and Ness and some really cute stuff happening between them. Also, thanks to everyone that's added me and my story to their alerts, you guys rock!**

"I don't know Rose," Ness said into the receiver of the cell phone she held up to her right ear. She was answering the question she'd just been asked as to when she was going to tell Jake about Michael. Her aunt had called about half an hour before, _to get all the dirty details_, as she'd phrased it.

Knowing she wasn't going to be able to get out of it, Rose would just continuously hound her until she spilled the beans, Ness had started recounting the previous evening in detail to her aunt. The only thing she'd hedged around had been the make-out session that had taken place early in the evening.

She'd moved past that quickly, going through the rest of the evening which had consisted of stuffing their faces with pizza, talking, laughing and the occasional brief but passionate kiss. A chill had passed through her body as she'd remembered one particularly toe curling encounter; they'd been sitting on the couch in the living room while they ate when Ness noticed Jake moving closer and closer. When he stopped, there was barely an inch separating their faces and Ness could still remember what his warm breath had felt like on her face as he'd whispered, "You have something right…" but he hadn't finished his sentence. Instead, he'd closed the remaining distance as his tongue reached out to lick at the corner of her mouth. She'd let out a whimper at the contact and all too quickly Jake had pulled back slightly, "It tastes even better when I lick it off your body," he'd said and Ness had almost lost it. She'd savored the memory but hadn't divulged the details of that to her aunt either.

When she'd finished her retelling of the night, Rose had only said one thing, that Ness hadn't told him about Michael yet, and it was that topic they were currently discussing.

"Well I'd say you need to figure it out, and the sooner the better," Rose said in response to Ness' _I don't know._

Ness let out an exasperated sigh, "I know, and I have every intention of telling him. But I don't just want to spring it on him. I want to be able to explain everything, I want him to understand, I just…" she trailed off, not knowing what else to say.

"You don't want him to walk away," Rose finished.

"No, I don't. Please help me Aunt Rose, what do I do?" Ness asked pleadingly.

"The right time will come along sweetheart, I know it's not something you can throw out there casually…But he deserves to know."

Even though she knew her aunt couldn't see her, she nodded her head a couple of times, trying to swallow the lump in her throat which was making it hard to speak.

"Renesmee, are you all right?" she heard her aunt ask softly.

"Yes Rose," she was finally able to squeak out, "I'll be okay and I will tell him. I'll find the right moment and I'll tell him everything."

"I know you will. Now go and get ready for your date, I'll check in with you soon."

"Okay, thanks Rose, I'll talk to you later." And with those final words she ended the call.

Ness took a moment to compose herself; she ran a shaky hand through her hair and took a couple of deep breaths. Once she felt she had her emotions under control, she got up from the couch and made her way upstairs to get ready for her date with Jake.

She knew her aunt was right and that she had to tell Jacob about Michael. She'd had every intention of doing so the night before. But he hadn't given her a chance to at first and then she'd just gotten so wrapped up in him and everything he made her feel that it had been the furthest thing from her mind.

As soon as Jake had left and she'd come down from her high, Ness had mentally kicked herself for her folly. She knew he had a right to know before they went much further, before he invested his feelings; but at the same time, she was afraid.

What if telling him changed the way he felt about her? What if he didn't want to be with her when she was still tied to someone else? She'd struggled with these thoughts all night as she tossed and turned, hardly able to get any real sleep.

Eventually, as the sun started making its appearance in the sky, Ness had dragged herself from the bed, knowing she wouldn't be able to get anymore sleep with everything that was on her mind.

She'd went about her day; showering, having breakfast and straightening up from the previous night, all the while trying to figure out the best way to explain things to Jacob. And then Rose had called.

She was glad she had her aunt to confide in, and now that they'd spoken, Ness was beginning to see things a lot more clearly. As she stood in the closet trying to find something to wear, she made a resolution; she'd tell Jake tonight. Not in the middle of dinner of course, but sometime before the end of the night, Jake would know all of her secrets.

…

An hour later, Ness stood in front of the mirror giving herself a final look. She was pleased; she wasn't sure where she and Jake were going or how casual it would be, so she'd settled on a red cotton sun dress. It had thin spaghetti straps, an empire waist and came to just above her knees. She'd paired it with strappy cork wedge sandals.

Just as she finished applying a clear cote of lip gloss, she heard the sound of a loud engine approaching and she knew Jake had arrived. She quickly grabbed her small purse and tossed all of her necessary items in_; phone, wallet, lip gloss and keys, check,_ she thought to herself. And then she was out the door.

She made her way down the steps of the front porch and there he was. He was wearing a pair of dark washed blue jeans and a collard, button up blue and white striped shirt, the top two buttons of which were left open and Ness could see the white undershirt he had on beneath it.

"Hey" Jake said when he spotted her. "I thought this was supposed to be a real date. Shouldn't I be knocking on your door and then sitting on the couch waiting for twenty or so minutes while you decide what outfit looks best or something?" He asked teasingly.

Ness chuckled at that as she made her way to his side. "Typically, but it's lucky for you I look good in everything." She said with a wink.

"I definitely agree with that," he replied looking down at her.

In the next instant, he had his arms wrapped around her waist and he pulled her body up against his. He lowered his head slowly, keeping his eyes locked on hers until their lips met. The kiss was slow and sensuous. She parted her lips and his tongue came out to meet hers, caressing and massaging softly as his hands ran up and then down her back to gently grip her hips. But all too soon, he pulled back. "I've been thinking about doing that all day," he said as he gave her a half smile and squeezed her hips one last time before releasing them.

The kiss left Ness feeling lightheaded in the best possible way and she smiled back at Jake. "Well, I'm happy to have been of service."

Hearing that made Jake groan internally; he wondered if she'd be just as happy to be of service if she knew all the other things he'd been thinking about doing to her all day. He'd tried to keep his mind from straying to those things, but he hadn't been able to help himself; she completely consumed him. Hell, he'd spent an hour in the shower the night before trying to slack the need that had built up in him after just one night with her. But it hadn't worked and he'd had to repeat the process first thing that morning as he lay in bed.

Hearing his name pulled him back to reality and he gazed at Ness, embarrassed about where he'd let his thoughts wander to. "I'm sorry, I was just, um, thinking about something."

It was hard to tell with his skin color, but to Ness, it almost looked like Jacob was blushing. She was dying to know what he'd been thinking about that could've caused that reaction, but she didn't have the nerve to ask, so she went back to her original question. "No problem, I was just asking if you were ready to go."

"Uh yeah, I guess we should get going." He said as he started down the walkway that wrapped around the house and to the driveway.

Ness followed beside Jake, her thoughts wandering to where they'd be going on their date. That is until they reached the driveway and she noticed the gleaming black motorcycle waiting there. She stopped immediately and pointed, "What's that?"

Jake hadn't realized that Ness had stopped until he'd heard her, and as he turned to face her, he noticed the apprehension written all over her face. He took a moment and looked back and forth between Ness and the direction she was pointing, and then he understood; Ness was afraid of his bike.

He reached her side in two short strides. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I…I didn't know you had a motorcycle," she said lowering her arm.

"I'm sorry, I should have warned you, I guess it just slipped my mind." Jake explained.

"I've never been on a motorcycle. I thought you had a car. I…and…I'm wearing a dress." She stumbled through that as she looked up at Jake.

"I do, I have a car too. But…and now that I think about it I probably should have called and checked with you about this before accepting, only my sisters kind of manipulative but in a good way and there really wasn't any way for me to say no and –"

Jake was rambling and Ness, getting more confused by the second, had to cut him off. "Please, I am so confused. What does your sister have to do with your car and our date and what did you accept?"

"Sorry, I was just getting nervous for a second. I saw the look on your face and I didn't want you to be upset or disappointed."

"Why would I be disappointed?' Ness questioned.

"Because," Jake started, "I told you last night we'd have a real dinner and movie date and now…"

Jake trailed off and Ness had to prod to get him to continue. "And now…what?"

"Just before I was getting ready to head over here tonight, my sister stopped by. She said that our dad and Sue Clearwater had agreed to watch the kids for the night and everyone was gonna be over at First Beach. I made the mistake of telling her I couldn't go because of our date and…well long story short, we're both expected to show up at the beach tonight. That's why I brought the bike. Trust me, if we would have been driving an hour into Port Angeles I wouldn't have. Are you mad?"

Jake was looking at her with the saddest looking puppy dog expression she'd ever seen on his face. Suddenly, all of the fear over the motorcycle left her and it took everything she had not to burst out laughing. "Of course I'm not mad Jake. I didn't care about the dinner or the movie, I just cared about spending time with you. And hey, if we're gonna be outside, on the beach, under the stars, I'd still classify that as a date."

Jake smiled then, "Yeah, I guess it is." Then, remembering the bike he said, "But I understand if you don't wanna take the bike, we can take your car if it'll make you more comfortable."

Ness looked around Jakes shoulder to peek at the motorcycle and then looked back to him. "No, it's okay. I know you wouldn't have brought it if you didn't think it were safe. Just…just promise that you won't go too fast or do any crazy tricks, okay?"

Jake chuckled at that, wondering what kind of crazy images Ness' imagination was conjuring up. "I promise I won't go over 40 and I won't do any crazy tricks." He reached his hand up then to cup her cheek, "You'll be safe with me."

Looking into his eyes, Ness knew she trusted him without a doubt. "Okay Jake, let's go."

…

Ness stood waiting for Jake to reach her side. Although they'd made it safely to La Push, she felt much better now that she was standing on the sturdy pavement. The ride hadn't been as bad as she'd imagined it would be, and Jake had held his word by not speeding or doing anything even remotely reckless, but motorcycles definitely weren't her favorite mode of transportation.

"So," Jake said as he approached. "What did you think?"

"It wasn't bad…and it certainly was nice getting to hold onto you. But I just don't think I'm cut out for motorcycles."

"It was your first time and you were nervous. Next time you'll know what to expect and you'll enjoy it more. Trust me, you'll get used to it," he said confidently.

Though Ness wasn't necessarily looking forward to more time on the motorcycle, his statement made her smile. Getting used to it would require many more rides, and many more rides meant many more days spent with Jake; and that was definitely something she could get used to.

"You ready?" He asked reaching out his hand to her.

It took Ness a second to realize what he was doing, but when she did, she lit up; Jake wanted to hold her hand. She immediately reached for his in return and when they met, he interlocked his finger with hers and brought her hand up to his lips. He placed a soft kiss on the back of her hand before lowering them back down.

"I'm ready now," she replied smiling up at him.

Jake nodded and they began making their way to the beach. Ness followed by his side, getting a little nervous now that they'd arrived. She'd be meeting his friends and all she could think about was how much she hoped they would like her.

"So, exactly how many people are gonna be here?" She questioned.

"Hmm, I don't know if everyone's gonna show, but maybe fifteen or so." He replied.

"And they're all friends of yours?"

"Yeah," he started, "I've known most of them my entire life, it's a small res and there's only one school. So even though Sam's like nine years older than me, I always knew who he was growing up. And then he married Emily and she started hanging out with my sister and…the rest just fell into place."

"That's nice, that you're all so close I mean."

"They're my family." He shrugged, feeling that he'd summed it all up.

Just then, Ness noticed one of the most beautiful women she'd ever seen in person making her way towards them. She was tall; Ness figured she had to be close to six foot. Her jet black hair was pin straight, glossy and made its way all the way down to her waist. Her skin was slightly darker than Jakes, but incredibly beautiful and flawless none the less.

As she reached them she began to speak, "I was wondering when you'd get here."

Ness felt Jake release her hand and she instantly began to wonder why. And then he reached out and wrapped his arms around the girl, pulling her close into a tight hug. Ness didn't even hear what he said back, as soon as he'd touched the girl, she felt as if her heart had fallen out of her chest. It took hearing her name to snap Ness out of it and she looked over at Jake, who still had his left arm wrapped around the girls' waist, and tried to smile.

"Ness," Jake said with a big smile on his face, "this is my sister Rachel."

Jake hadn't noticed the change in Ness when he'd hugged his sister, but Rachel had. She could understand how Ness could've misinterpreted the situation and it was obvious to Rachel that Ness cared for her brother. That was all she needed to know and she immediately took a liking to the girl. "I'm so glad to meet you."

Ness watched as Rachel stepped forward and proceeded to give her a small hug. She felt silly now that she knew this was Jake's sister and she couldn't stop the blush from spreading across her cheeks. "Me too, and thank you for inviting me." She managed to get out.

"Jake," Rachel started to say, "Quil was over by the pit a little bit ago and I think he could use some help with the fire. Why don't you go see if you can give him a hand?"

"Uh, but –"

Jake was going to object, he didn't want to abandon Ness right after they'd arrived, but Rachel cut him off. "I don't think so, I'm sure you're worried about Ness but there's no reason to be, I'll look out for her. You just go help Quil, Ness will be waiting when you're done."

Jake knew from experience that it was no use arguing with his sister, she always won. He gave Ness an apologetic smile before turning to make his way to the fire pit. Once he'd gone, Rachel looped her arm through Ness' and started leading them down the beach, in the opposite direction Jake had gone.

"Wow," Ness exclaimed, "does he always do what you say like that?"

Rachel chuckled at the amazement in Ness' tone, "Pretty much, but that's easy, maybe I'll even share my secret with you one day. But as for now, let's get you some food."

They'd arrived at two tables that were full of different types of food. Covering the tables was a tall, four poster blue awning. "Now, I don't know what you like, but we have a bit of everything here. Egg salad, potato salad, macaroni salad, corn on the cob, ribs, chicken and burgers on this table," she said pointing to her right. "And on this table we have all of the condiments, buns, chips, plates and cups as well as assorted desserts. Oh and in the coolers there's beer, soda and water. Help yourself to anything."

Ness looked back over her shoulder, aside from her and Jake; there were only about 10 others in their group. The food laid out in front of them could feed three times that amount. "There's so much, are there a lot more people coming?"

Rachel gave a laugh at that, "Maybe a couple, and if they do they'll be bringing more food, but trust me, it's not too much. If there's one thing you should know about our Quileute men, it's that they like to eat."

Ness felt bad now; she and Jacob hadn't shown up with anything. "I wish I would have known, I would have brought something."

Rachel waived her hand as to dismiss Ness' comment. "Don't even worry about it, you're a guest and you didn't even know you were coming." She looked around then and Ness saw her frown. "I just realized I forgot something, will you be okay here for a second while I get it or would you like me to get Jake?"

Ness shook her head, "No, I'll be okay."

"Great I'll be right back." And with that Rachel walked off and Ness was left alone.

She made her way to the coolers to get a drink. As she leaned down and opened the first one, she saw the waters and sodas and closed it. Deciding she needed a beer, she moved to the second cooler and grabbed one. As she stood, she looked over the tables trying to find a bottle opener, but came up empty handed. She was just about to put the beer back when she heard someone ask, "Need some help with that?"

She turned in the direction of the voice and saw the man who'd spoken. He was just as tall and muscular as Jake, but not nearly as appealing to Ness. His face appeared to be slightly busted up; there were black and blue smudges around his nose and under both of his eyes and Ness wondered what he'd done to end up like that. "Um, sure…I couldn't find a bottle opener." She said, handing her beer to him.

He took it from her and in a matter of two seconds he'd popped the cap and was passing the bottle back to her. "No problem," he said walking over to one of the tables. He grabbed a plate, filled it with an assortment of chips and then turned back to Ness.

"I saw you walking up with Jake, you two together?" He asked.

Ness began to feel slightly uncomfortable. She didn't know why he was asking; was it pure curiosity or was he trying to hit on her? "Yes, we're together." If he were trying to hit on her, she'd hoped that would deter him.

But his eyes just seemed to light up at that. He took a couple of chips from his plate and placed them in his mouth, he seemed to be studying her as he chewed. "So, you the reason my bro's been so pissy lately?"

"Excuse me?" Ness asked, not sure what he was referring to.

"He's been acting worse than a chick on the rag all week. Even got into it with me the other night. Just wondering if you were the cause." He said with a shrug of his shoulders.

And then it clicked; Jake's black eye and his bruised face, this was the friend he'd said he'd just been _horsing around_ with. But before Ness could question him, someone else approached.

"Okay Embry, I think you're done." The woman who'd spoke was tiny, barely coming up to Ness' shoulders, but she had a look on her face that said _don't mess with me_, and Embry clearly recognized it.

"What'd I do?" He asked the tiny woman.

Instead of answering his question, the girl turned to Ness. "Please excuse my friend Embry. He was born without that filter between his brain and mouth that would stop him from saying all of the moronic things he thinks."

Embry scoffed at that, "Ya know, you used to be a lot more fun before you went and got yourself knocked up Claire."

"Case in point," she responded.

Picking up a bag of chips, Embry threw out a final "_whatever_" and walked away.

"Sorry about him," Claire said cocking her head at Embry's retreating figure. And then holding out her hand, "I'm Claire."

Ness shook her hand and said, "I'm Ness. And don't worry about it."

"If you say so. I just knew as soon as I saw that you'd been left alone with him that you'd need rescuing. Why don't we go have a seat while we wait for the guys to finish the fire?" Claire suggested.

"That sounds good," Ness agreed and they made their way over to a circle of chairs.

…

Claire had introduced Ness to everyone and they'd all made her feel welcome. As they waited for the guys to finish the fire, they'd talked and Ness was happy to discover that she had a lot in common with Claire. They both had a love for art; Claire's favorite medium being charcoal and Ness' being photography. She'd found out that Claire worked with Jake at the garage as the office manager and her husband, Quil, was a teacher at the high school. And they'd also talked about Claire's pregnancy; she'd just found out a couple weeks before and she was ten weeks along now.

Claire had asked how long Ness had known Jake and been surprised when she'd told her it'd only been a week. She'd mentioned that Jake didn't bring girls around very often and that Ness must be something special for him to introduce her to all of them after just a week. Ness couldn't get the goofy grin off her face after hearing that and a short while later, Jake was back by her side.

Jake and Quil had managed to get the fire going and it was now burning brightly. He was sitting on the sand; leaning back against a log with Ness is his lap, snuggled close to his chest. They'd ate as they'd visited with all of his friends, he'd been happy to see how well Ness had gotten along with everyone. The sun had set and they all sat around the fire now, talking and laughing and telling stories; Jake couldn't remember the last time he'd been this happy.

"Okay, I think we need some music." Ness heard someone say. When she saw him get up, she remembered his name, Seth. She watched as he ran to the food tent and came back with a radio. He turned it on and began scanning the stations for a song he liked and stopped when he found one. Ness didn't recognize the song, but she didn't listen to a lot of modern music.

Happy with his selection, Seth walked back over to the fire and stopped in front of his girlfriend McKenna, who Ness had learned he'd been dating for a couple of months. "You know you wanna dance beautiful." He said as he held out his hand. She beamed up at him and quickly rose to her feet. Taking his hand, they walked slightly away from the fire and began dancing.

Ness watched them for a few moments as the others talked around her, they seemed so happy. Just then, the song changed. Ness didn't recognize this one either, but the beat was infectious. Looking up at Jacob, she asked, "Will you dance with me?"

Jake looked apprehensive as he answered, "I don't dance Ness."

"Please Jake, I really like this song," she replied.

"You do?" He asked surprised.

She nodded her head yes, "Please."

"Okay, but don't get mad at me if I'm no good," he said.

"Yea," Ness practically squealed as she crawled out of his lap.

Jake rose to his feet and followed Ness. They stopped after moving a few feet away from the fire and he looked down at her.

Ness lifted her hands and pressed them against his chest, dragging them up and around his neck. He'd removed his button down earlier, growing too warm that close to the fire, so now all he was wearing was his white, sleeveless undershirt. Although he looked nice before, Ness much preferred this look, it left so much more of his skin and muscles exposed.

Jake followed, raising his hands and resting them on her hips. He splayed his fingers out, gripping her firmly and bringing her flush against him. He didn't think anything could feel better, but then Ness stared swaying her hips.

Ness let the beat of the song lead her; she didn't understand any of the words, it sounded like a reggae song, but it was hypnotizing. She was moving, swaying her hips, and it felt good, but then she realized that Jake was just standing still. She used her arms that were wrapped around his neck to bring his head closer to hers as she rose up on her tip toes. When her lips met his ears she whispered, "Move with me Jake," and she heard him groan in answer.

Slowly, Jake began to move, following Ness' lead. He let one of his hands roam; he made his way around, when he reached her ass, he stopped and squeezed.

_Definitely a good idea_, Ness thought to herself as she felt Jakes hands fondle her. She leaned her head back and saw just how close his lips were, and in that instant she wanted nothing more than to kiss him.

As if he had read her mind, Jake lowered his head the last couple of inches and pressed his lips to hers. Everything around them faded away for him then and he lost himself in Ness. Her lips were so soft against his, but he needed more so he ran his tongue over them. When her lips parted, he slipped his tongue passed them and into the heat of her mouth.

Ness ran her hands up into his hair and gripped. His mouth was driving her crazy, alternating between soft and hard kisses; she was addicted and couldn't get enough. But somewhere in the back of her mind, she slowly registered that the song had ended and gone to commercial, and that brought her back down enough to remember where they were. On a beach, surrounded by all of Jacobs friends and she knew they could all see everything they'd been doing.

Pulling back slowly, Ness looked up at Jake. He was breathing hard and he looked dazed, "You wanna go somewhere?" he managed to say.

Ness just nodded her head and that was enough for Jake. She removed her arms from around his neck and he took her hand. They made their way up the beach and Ness tried to ignore the whistles she heard coming from behind her.

"It's just Embry, don't pay any attention to him," Jake said.

"Okay."

And then they were back at Jakes motorcycle and he stopped. "Are you okay to ride?" he asked.

"I think so," Ness replied.

"We can go to my place, it's empty and it'll only take a couple of minutes."

"Okay," she agreed.

Jake got on his bike then and held out his hand to help Ness on. When she was settled, he handed her his helmet and she strapped it on.

As he started up, Ness wrapped her arms tight around Jakes waist, leaned into his back and closed her eyes. Although she wasn't looking, she could tell they were going slightly faster than they had before. But just as he'd said, it didn't take more than a couple of minutes to reach Jakes house and before she knew it, the bike had stopped.

Ness removed the helmet and handed it back to Jake as she got of the bike. He left it dangling on the handle bar as he dropped the kickstand and got off himself. "You wanna come inside?" He asked stopping in front of her.

She nodded her head and said, "Yes," but it was barely more than a whisper.

Jake reached for her hand and joined their fingers as he smiled down at her. They walked up the path to the house and made their way up the front porch steps. Just as they reached the front door, he stopped and faced her.

They reached for each other at the same time, Jakes hands going to Ness' waist and hers finding purchase on his shirt. He brought her to him and lifted her in one fluid movement and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

As their lips crashed into each others, Jake turned towards the door and opened it. He stepped over the threshold and into his living room, using his foot to kick the door shut. One of his hands were grasping her thigh, helping to support her, the other was in her hair. He used that hand to gently tug her head backwards, forcing the kiss to be broken. But that was okay with Ness, because his lips didn't stop, they just moved lower; to her neck that was now exposed.

Jake sucked and licked and gently bit the skin of her neck and Ness felt her need growing. She was just about to suggest to Jake that he take them to his room when she heard someone clear their throat.

Jakes lips immediately stopped moving on her neck and Ness' eyes snapped open. She looked at Jake, his eyes were open as well but they weren't looking at her, they were looking over her shoulder. And the next words out of his mouth made Ness want to crawl under a rock and die, "Hey dad, I um, didn't expect you to be home."


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Hey all, here's another one for you. And I just have to give a virtual high five to luv2beloved for her review of the last chapter. She asked about Ness' wedding band and if she was wearing it or not. She was the only one to comment on it and I'd been wondering if any of you would catch that I hadn't mentioned anything about it yet. All I can say is it will be brought up in an upcoming chapter. I won't bore you with any more dribble…Hope you like it.**

Ness and Jacob sat next to each other on the old couch in Billy's living room as he sat in his wheelchair across from them. The first few moments after Billy had discovered them kissing by the front door had been awkward to say the least.

Once Ness had managed to unwrap herself from Jake, they'd stood nervously waiting for Billy to say something. He'd looked at each of them, causing Ness to grow even more embarrassed. And then, surprising both she and Jake, he'd started laughing. He'd rolled his chair over to the living room then and said, "I remember when me and you mother had moments like that. Couldn't keep our hands off each other back then. Come on in and have a seat."

Jake had turned to look at Ness and she'd just stared back. She'd been mortified at being caught and she didn't think she'd be able to comfortably sit across from Jakes dad and make polite conversation. But he'd taken her hand and given it an encouraging squeeze, and she'd known she couldn't refuse.

It hadn't taken long for the residual tension to ease, Billy had a way of making people feel comfortable and Ness could see where Jake had gotten his charm from.

"So, how long have you been in Forks Ness? I don't think I've ever seen you in town?" Billy asked after all of the introductions had been made.

"Uh, not too long actually. I live in Seattle, I just came out to Forks last week to get away for a bit." She replied.

Billy raised his eyebrows in surprise. "Seattle, huh? What would make you wanna come all the way out here?"

"I used to come to Forks all the time with my family when I was younger. My parents lived here before I was born and my grandparents still own their old house just outside of town." She explained.

"You don't say. Who're your grandparents?" Billy asked, wondering to himself if he'd known them.

"Well my father's parents didn't live here all that long, but his father worked at the hospital in Forks for a few years, Dr. Carlisle Cullen, and my grandmother's name is Esme Cullen." Ness explained.

Billy's eyebrows furrowed as he tried to put faces to the names, they sounded vaguely familiar but he couldn't quite place them. "I know I've heard those names before, but I'm having trouble remembering. The old man aint as sharp as he used to be," he joked.

Ness smiled before continuing, "They moved to Alaska after my father and their other children left home. But my mother's father, he lived here his whole life, so you might have known him. His name was Charlie Swan, he used to be the Forks chief of police."

And that's when recollection dawned on Billy. He hadn't known the former chief all that well; Charlie had been quite a few years older than Billy. But he remembered the story he'd read in the paper all those years ago when the daughter of the local chief of police married the son of Dr. Carlisle and Esme Cullen. He also remembered the story he'd read about the former chief a few years later, "It's coming back to me now, I remember the announcement that ran when you're parents married." And then in a softer tone, "I didn't know the chief well, but I heard when he passed, I'm sorry you had to lose him before you really got to know him."

Ness felt a brief twinge of sadness in her chest at Billy's words. Charlie had died when she'd been just five years old and although she didn't have many memories of him, she still missed him and she cherished those she did have. She felt Jake's arm wrap around her shoulders then and she was thankful for the support, it was comforting. "Thank you," was all she could manage to get out.

It was clear to Billy that speaking of her grandfather was painful for Ness, so he gave her a moment before moving on and changing the subject. It took a few minutes, but she came around and he eventually had her smiling again. They spent the next half hour together, talking and even laughing as Billy told Ness stories of a young Jake and all of his _adventures._

Ness was enjoying herself immensely, but after awhile the long day she'd had and the lack of sleep she'd gotten the night before began to catch up to her, and she found herself yawning in the middle of her sentence.

The yawning was not missed by Jake and he began to realize that it was probably time he take Ness home. Not wanting to cut her off, he waited for her to finish speaking before he brought it up. "I don't want to break up the party or anything, but it's after ten and it'll take another half hour to get you home Ness. So if you're getting tired we should probably head out."

She knew he was right, but the prospect of Jake dropping her off at home and then leaving was not appealing to her at all. Even less appealing was the idea of getting back on the motorcycle; as tired as she was, she doubted she'd be able to hang on. "I guess you're right, but…I don't know if I can ride on the bike right now. Do you think we can take your car instead?" she asked, rising from the couch to stand as she yawned again.

Billy cut in then saying, "If you're that tired honey you should just stay the night here."

Ness began to blush at that. She was sure Billy hadn't meant it as it had sounded, but she couldn't seem to stop the mental images that ran through her head at the mention of spending the night with Jake.

Billy knew he'd put his foot in his mouth when he saw Ness' reaction. He hadn't meant to embarrass the girl and he rushed to correct the situation, "What I meant to say was…I'm sure Jake would be gentleman enough to let you have his room for the night. The couch aint so bad, right son?"

Jake cleared his throat; a little thrown off by the images his father's words had conjured as well. "Yeah of course. You're welcome to stay," he said, giving Ness a half smile.

She took a moment to contemplate. _If I stay, Jake will be here when I wake up in the morning…and if he doesn't have any plans, maybe we can spend the day together. But if I have him take me home, there's no guarantee how long he'll stay or if he'll ask to see me tomorrow. And I still haven't gotten the chance to be alone with him long enough to talk about things. But if I stay…_ Her decision was made then.

Half an hour later; after having said goodnight to both Jake and Billy, washing up for the night and changing; Ness lay in Jakes bed. She was surrounded from every direction by his scent; his pillow was under her head, his sheets were wrapped around her and she was wearing his shirt. Exhausted, she fell asleep easily as she thought of him and the night they'd shared.

…

The sun shone brightly through the window and made it impossible for Ness to sleep any longer; she hadn't realized the night before that the curtains were open. She stretched and then sat up, slowly looking over the room and its contents. There wasn't much to it; an extra long, full sized bed, a dresser with a laptop sitting on it and an armoire were all that occupied the small space.

After standing from the bed, she made her way over to the dresser to retrieve her clothes she'd left folded on top the previous night. She grabbed the pile and was just about to turn away when something on the mirror caught her eye. It was a picture and Ness could tell just by looking at it that it was old; the edges were bent and torn in certain spots and the color seemed off, there was also a crease down the center of the photograph as if it had once been folded in half. The picture was of a woman, sitting on a set of wood steps and holding a little boy in her arms. They looked so happy, sitting there, starring at the camera with huge smiles on their faces. The woman looked just like Jacobs sister; but Ness thought that the picture looked much too old to be Rachel and she began to wonder if it might be Jakes mother instead…and if so, was he the little boy?

But all of these thoughts left her head when she heard a knock at the door followed by Jake's deep voice. "Hey Ness, are you up?"

She quickly made her way to the door, clutching her clothes tight to her chest, and opened it. "Good morning, I was just going to head to the bathroom to change." She said as she looked up to meet his eyes.

Jake smiled down at her. "Well I'm just in time then…I didn't know if you'd want to put your dress from last night back on, so I brought you these," he said as he held out a pile of clothes to her. "It's nothing much, just an old shirt and a pair of cotton shorts. My sisters left a whole bunch of old clothes here after they moved out, they should fit you better than any of my stuff would."

"Thank you. Um, is it okay if I take a shower?" She asked while taking the items from him.

Jake tried to keep his body under control at the thought of Ness showering in _his_ shower, but it was near impossible. What he wouldn't give to be able to join her. He'd spent a miserable night on the couch, not because it wasn't comfortable…No, it had been miserable because he'd known Ness was in his house, in his bed, and all he'd wanted to do was slip into his room and join her. But he'd resisted and instead spent the night tossing and turning on the couch, trying to keep thoughts of _her_ out of his head.

"Yeah sure, help yourself. Just meet me in the kitchen when you're done and we can have some breakfast," He managed to get out.

He watched as Ness nodded and slipped past him. Once she'd made it to the bathroom and shut the door, he turned to make his way to the kitchen.

As Ness showered, Jake busied himself in the kitchen, getting things ready. After his restless night, he'd woken early, showered and changed. By seven o'clock he'd been done and with nothing else to do for hours, he'd decided to surprise Ness with breakfast. He hadn't been kidding when he'd told her he couldn't cook and he certainly hadn't expected her to cook as a guest in his home. So he'd done the next best thing, he'd made his way to the diner in Forks and picked up an assortment of things; bagels, donuts, muffins, biscuits and croissants with different flavors of jams and cream cheeses along with some fresh fruit. He'd had no idea what Ness liked to eat in the morning and he hoped he'd managed to pick up at least one good thing. Just as he finished setting the last of the items out, he heard the water turn off in the bathroom and he sat to wait.

A couple of minutes later, he watched as Ness walked out of the bathroom and started down the hall towards him. Her hair was damp and her face was flushed, most likely due to the steam from the shower; she'd never looked more beautiful to him.

As Ness approached the kitchen, she saw Jake sitting at the table, starring at her. She was just about to comment on how rude it was to stare, teasingly of course, when her eyes swept over the table and the massive amount of food covering its surface. "Jake, wow, are you expecting people over or something?"

Jake could tell by the look on her face that he might have overdone it. He shook his head as he smiled sheepishly and said, "No I uh, I wasn't really sure what you'd like…So I just got a bunch of everything."

Knowing that Jake had cared enough about her to go out of his way to make sure her wants and needs were met made Ness feel good and she smiled back as she sat down across from him at the table. "Thank you, and I'm sorry, I don't want you to think I don't appreciate all of this." She said as she waived her hand over the table to indicate all of the food. "Because I really do, I just didn't expect it."

"It's okay," Jake said as he shrugged, "And it's no big deal, really. I was up anyway, I just wanted you to have a good breakfast and I didn't think a bowl of fruit loops would do the trick."

Ness chuckled at that. Although this had been a nice surprise, she would have loved the fruit loops just the same. "Well, thank you…again," she said as she reached for a cinnamon raison bagel and some cream cheese. "But I hope you at least have plenty of room in that stomach of yours because I doubt that what I can eat will even put a dent in this spread."

Jake had started digging in himself; he had two bagels, a blueberry muffin and a chocolate donut in front of him and he was just starting to spread cream cheese out on the first bagel. "It's almost 8:30, Billy should be up soon and I'm sure he'll be hungry. And anything we don't finish I can take over to Quil and Claire's with me, it definitely won't last long there," Jake said.

Jake was quiet for a minute or so after that as he focused on his food; Ness focused on his words instead. He was going over to Quil and Claire's today, which probably meant he was just waiting for her to finish breakfast so he could take her home. She knew it was his day off; of course he'd want to spend time with his friends. She just couldn't help but feel a little disappointed; she'd been hoping that he'd want to spend the afternoon with her.

Jakes voice cut through her concentration then as he asked, "You okay Ness? I'm on my second bagel already and you've hardly touched yours."

Ness shook her head and forced herself to smile. If Jake wanted to spend the afternoon with his friends, that was his right and she wouldn't let it ruin the rest of the time she did have with him. "Yeah, I'm fine, I was just thinking of something," she said and then paused to take a bite. "But even so, it's not fair to hold me to your standards, you inhale your food after all," she said with a cheeky smile.

Jake looked incredulously back at her. "That's ridiculous. I'll have you know I chew every bite carefully before taking another. Choking on a hot dog in the middle of the street at three years old is no joke and I'll never make the mistake of taking bites that are too big for me again." He was able to keep up the façade for another couple of seconds before he cracked a smile and began to laugh.

Ness laughed along with him before asking, "So was that true? Did you really almost choke on a hot dog in the middle of the street?"

"Yeah, luckily my mom was there with her fist to pound on my back and dislodge the sucker. I know it's not the proper way to do the Heimlich and all, but it worked alright for her."

Jake didn't say anything else and he didn't take another bite of his bagel for a moment after that. He just sat, starring off into space, as a sad smile played at his lips. Ness didn't miss a second of it. It had been the first time he'd ever mentioned anything about his mother to her. She'd wondered about it at first, and then again when she'd seen the picture on his mirror earlier that morning; had his mother left, did they not have a good relationship, or had she died? Seeing that look that had crossed his face just a moment ago told Ness all she'd needed to know, it was the same look she'd sometimes get when she thought of her grandpa Charlie; Jake's mother was dead.

She didn't try to change the subject, she didn't try to snap him out of it, she didn't speak at all. Instead, as silently and softly as she could, she reached her hand across the table, placed it over his and let Jake have his moment.

…

Jake hadn't said anything else about his mother and neither had Ness. When Billy wheeled himself into the kitchen a few minutes later, he was indeed hungry and helped himself to a couple of donuts. Once they'd all finished breakfast, Ness helped Jake clean up.

They worked mostly in silence, both thinking about the day ahead of them. Just as she finished, Ness handed Jake the last wet plate to dry and turned towards him, she was about to tell him that she was ready to head home whenever he was ready to take her; but he spoke first. "So, what do you have planned for today?"

Ness just shrugged her shoulders, slightly embarrassed, beyond Jake she had absolutely no plans, but what was she supposed to say? _Actually, I don't have any plans what-so-ever because the only reason I'm here at all is you and you haven't asked me to do anything with you today and everything I think about and want to spend my day doing revolves around you…_She thought to herself…_Definitely not._

Jake took the shrug as an indicator of no solid plans and forged ahead. "If you want, I've got to head over to Quil and Claire's this morning. I promised I'd help out with something and if you're not too busy… maybe you could come with-"

Ness cut him off before he'd even finished, practically shouting, "Yes." She felt her face heat up, embarrassed over how desperate she'd come across. But Jake just gave her that sexy half smile she loved so much and she instantly felt better.

He let out a slight chuckle before continuing. "Yeah, so…I'll probably be busy most of the time, but I figured you could hang out with Claire and do…whatever girls do," he paused to take a small step closer to Ness. "And then after," another small step. "Maybe we could spend some time together," another small step. "Alone," there were just a couple of inches separating them when he finished.

His head was tilted down towards hers and all she had to do was lift up a little to be able to reach his lips. She quickly darted her eyes around his wide shoulders and checked to make sure the room was empty. Seeing no sign of Billy, Ness raised her arms, locked them around Jacobs's neck and used them as leverage to lift herself enough to touch her lips to his.

The kiss was short but passionate, both knowing they weren't alone in the house. Ness gave herself just a moment to fully enjoy the taste of Jake as she ran her tongue over his full bottom lip. He was tangy and smokey and she couldn't resist gently nipping at his lip with her teeth. But, not wanting a repeat of the night before, she knew it was time to stop when she heard his quiet moan.

Jake hadn't been able to stop the moan that passed his lips when he'd felt Ness' teeth graze his lip, but he knew it was for the best when he felt her pull away. They didn't have the time or the privacy to get caught up in each other at the moment. He helped guide her back to her feet and then stepped a short distance away to give them both some space.

"So I take it that's a yes?" He asked teasingly.

Ness gave a sultry look back and said, "Definitely."

A short while later, they were seated in Jakes car and headed to the Ateara house. He'd explained along the way what exactly he'd agreed to help out with. Quil and Claire lived in a small two bedroom house on the reservation. With Claire expecting, they really needed more room, but a new house just wasn't feasible. The house they were currently living in had belonged to Quil's grandfather and had been left to him when he'd died.

In order to solve the space issue, Quil and Claire had decided to build on an addition to their current home with the help of their friends. They were adding a bedroom with an attached bath to the back of the house. With Paul and Jared both working in construction, they figured they could get it done by the time the baby arrived.

"They're lucky to have such devoted friends," Ness stated after Jake had filled her in.

"Yeah well, out here we all watch out for each other," he replied as he shrugged.

He continued to drive slowly down the dirt road for another minute before he turned and stopped the car in front of a small, blue, A-frame house. It had only taken a couple of minutes to reach their destination as the house wasn't very far from his own. So close in fact that they could have walked, but Jake had needed to bring a few supplies, as well as the left over bagels and such from breakfast, and had thought it best to take the car.

Just as he put the car in park, he saw Ness reach her hand out towards the door. He turned his torso in her direction and placed his right hand on her shoulder to stop her.

Ness let go of the handle and turned back towards Jake, a question in her eyes.

"Before we go in I just…I," he paused then to take a deep breath before continuing. "Thank you, for earlier. When I was talking a-about my mom…you helped."

Ness looked directly at Jake and could see how hard it was for him to be talking about his mom. He looked so young in that moment, like a vulnerable little boy. Wanting to comfort him, she moved as far to the left as she could, fully turned her upper body in his direction and leaned towards him. She placed both hands on either side of his face and gently pressed her lips to his.

The kiss was different from any of their previous kisses; it wasn't passionate, it wasn't needy, it didn't ignite a fire within either of them. But it was warm and tender and comforting and it was exactly what Jake had needed.

As she pulled away, Ness whispered "You're welcome." She removed her hands and settled herself back into her seat as she observed Jake. He looked better, in control of his emotions again, so she asked, "You ready to go inside?"

Jake just nodded his head in response and they both proceeded to exit the car. When he reached her side, he took her hand in his and held onto it as they made their way to the front door.

…

A couple of hours later, Ness stood by and watched as Jake worked; he was kneeling on the ground, hammering away at a nail, and he was shirtless. Claire had sent Ness out and around to the back of the house a minute ago to round up the guys for lunch, but as soon as she'd seen Jake, she'd been mesmerized. With every strike he made, the muscles throughout his arms and back would flex and bunch and ripple; it was enough to make her forget why she'd come back in the first place.

That was, until she heard from an unsolicited observer, "Hey Jake, I think you got yourself an audience."

She didn't even have to turn in the direction of the voice to know who it belonged to; Embry had been teasing her every chance he'd gotten since showing up that morning over she and Jakes PDA act on the beach the night before.

After the third or fourth time he'd made her blush, Jake had come to her rescue, informing Embry that if he didn't shut his mouth, Jake would shut it for him. That had quickly escalated into a faux boxing match that had ended with Embry in a head lock shouting _Uncle _as Jake flexed his bicep around Embry's neck.

Once he'd been released, he'd begrudgingly apologized, promising to lay off the teasing. She now realized that his promise apparently only applied to the night before and that her stalker session was fair game.

Jake snapped his head around after hearing Embry and immediately locked eyes with Ness. He could tell even at his distance that she was blushing, embarrassed at being caught starring. And although it made her look adorable, he didn't want her to be embarrassed; if she liked what she saw, she could look all she wanted.

"Can it Embry," he threw out over his shoulder as he stood. He heard Embry mumble something in response but it was too low for him to make out, so he let it go. He started walking towards Ness instead and was by her side in three long strides.

"Hey, everything okay?" He asked as he brushed her still slightly pink cheek with the back of his hand.

"Yeah," she said as she nodded. "Claire just asked me to come back and let everyone know that lunch was ready."

Jake smiled down at her and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear before dropping his hand back to his side. He wanted to kiss her, but he knew that would probably embarrass her even more and he didn't want to make her uncomfortable. He was also covered in sweat and he didn't think she'd want him all over her in his current state.

Little did he know that at that moment, Ness wanted nothing more. Just as he'd tucked her hair behind her ear, Ness had caught sight of a drop of sweat as it slid down Jakes neck. It had kept going, over his collar bone and down his chest, trailing over the contours of his abs before it disappeared under the waistband of his jeans. She'd run her eyes back up Jakes torso and over his face, stopping at his eyes.

She starred into them now, hoping Jake would somehow read her mind and move a little closer. But to her disappointment, he didn't. He nodded and called over his shoulder, "Hey, lunch is ready, let's eat."

After making their way back to the house and cleaning up, everyone made themselves a plate of food and found a spot to sit in the living room. They ate lunch together as the guys discussed the build. Rachel had joined Ness and Claire around noon to help with lunch and the three of them sat talking about the baby; what theme they wanted to go with in the nursery, what names they'd been thinking of and so on.

The rest of the afternoon flew by after lunch and before Ness knew it, it was 4:30 and the guys were calling it a day.

After washing up, Jake found Ness and asked if she were ready to go. She nodded her head and together, they said their goodbyes.

As they walked out to his car Jake asked, "Do you want to go back to your place?"

"That sounds good," she replied.

Jake cheered internally at that; she wasn't tired of him yet, she wanted even more time with him, time alone, he was on cloud nine.

When they reached his car, Jake opened the door to the passenger's side for Ness and she got in. She picked up her clutch, which she had left in the car, and pulled out her cell phone as Jake made his way around to the driver's side.

Looking down at her phone, Ness noticed she had three alerts. She quickly unlocked her phone and saw that she'd received two calls and a text from Michael. She hadn't spoken to him since the day before; they'd had a brief conversation before her aunt had called. Ness saw that he'd left a voicemail, but she knew she couldn't listen to it now. The text hadn't seemed urgent; it had simply asked her to call him when she had a chance. But nothing could be done now, not with Jake sliding into the driver's seat next to her. So she slipped the phone back into her clutch and tried not to focus on it. She still hadn't had an opportunity to tell Jake about Michael, but she was hoping to do that tonight, once they got back to her place; she just hoped he'd understand.

As soon as Jake got into the car and started driving away, he felt the change in Ness; her body looked tense and her face looked worried. He began to wonder if it had something to do with him coming over, _is she worried that things are moving too fast? Maybe she's changed her mind about me coming in and she just doesn't know how to tell me._ These thoughts and more swam through his head as he drove to her house. They both remained quiet during the drive, each wrapped up in their own thoughts.

Finally, Jake reached her house and he stopped the car. He wasn't sure what to do; she hadn't said anything since leaving La Push and he didn't know if she wanted him to stay or not. But she'd invited him and hadn't withdrawn the invitation, so Jake decided to see it through. If she wanted him to go, she'd have to tell him.

He turned the car off and opened his door. Ness didn't wait for him to get her door before exiting, but she waited for him as he made his way to her side. Still silent, they started up the walkway to the front door. The silence was killing Jake, but he didn't know what to say to make it better.

Ness was a mess, a million thoughts had been running through her head as they'd driven. She'd been so sure about what she was doing; she'd hardly even stopped to really think things through. But now, all of those things were crashing down on her from every angle; Michael, Jacob, her marriage, fidelity, honesty, love. It was overwhelming and she felt like she was going to crash at any moment.

Just then, as they reached the front porch steps, Ness felt something vibrating in her clutch. She knew it was her phone and she cringed, wondering if it was Michael. She quickly pulled the phone out and checked the screen. Relief poured over her as she saw it wasn't him, but her mother instead. Hoping for something to take her mind of off things for a moment, she held up a finger to Jake as she brought the phone to her ear.

"Hey mom," she said into the receiver as she walked a few steps away from Jake.

"Hi sweetheart. Is everything okay?" She heard Bella ask.

"Of course, why wouldn't it be?" Ness questioned.

"Well, I got a call from Michael just a little while ago. He said he'd been trying to reach you all day but you weren't answering. So he asked me to call and check on you."

Ness felt her stomach drop when her mother mentioned Michael. All she'd wanted was a moment, one moment where she didn't have to think about him or Jake, but she just wasn't that lucky.

Jake watched from the steps for a minute as Ness talked. He'd heard her say _hi mom_ when she'd answered, but she'd moved too far away after that and he had no idea what was going on now. All he knew was that Ness looked even worse now than she had in the car. After another minute, the hand that was holding the phone dropped back to her side. But she didn't come to him.

Hesitantly, Jake approached her instead. He just wanted to make sure she was okay. If she wanted him to go, he would, but he had to make sure she was good first.

"Ness?" He said her name like a question when he reached her side.

After a second, she looked up at him, and Jake could see the tears in her eyes threatening to spill over. He moved closer and brought his arms up to wrap them around her, but she moved back, out of his reach.

That had hurt, but Jake wasn't going to let it stop him. "I wanna help, but I don't know what's wrong…Please talk to me," he pleaded.

She looked away from him then, and in a voice so quite he had to strain to hear, she said, "I need some time, I-I'm sorry."

That was all she'd said. Jake's heart was beating fast in his chest and it was a struggle for him to simply breath, but he somehow managed to get his next words out. "It's okay, I'll go. Just…promise you'll call me?" He'd meant it as a statement but it had come out sounding more like a question.

Jake waited, holding his breath, for her answer. When all she did was nod her head slightly, he knew that was all he'd get.

Something had happened that had caused Ness to close herself off and he hated that he didn't know how to fix it. All he could do was give her what she seemed to want, space. Accepting that there was nothing more he could do for the time being, Jacob turned away from her and began walking back to his car.

Once he was in his and back on the road, Jacob began replaying the past twenty-four hours he'd spent with Ness in his head, trying to pinpoint what he'd done that could have triggered her behavior, but he came up empty handed.

By the time he reached his tiny house on the reservation, he was exhausted. He made his way slowly to his room, walking right passed his father and ignoring him when he asked about Ness. He pulled his jeans and his t-shirt off once inside and practically collapsed onto his bed. His face was buried in his pillow and as he took in a deep breath to relax himself, the lingering scent of strawberries flooded his senses and he groaned. _How the hell am I supposed to get any sleep when I'm surrounded by her_, he thought to himself. _Fuuuck._


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Well hello there…I know, it's been a while, but I won't bore you with the details of my extended absence. I'll just let you know that I'm back and plan to update at least every 2 weeks until this story is finished. I hope this chapter makes up for the wait.**

Ness sat curled on the couch in the living room, a blanket thrown over her lap, as she starred off into space. It was just after 3 pm, she'd come down from her room a short while ago after having spent the majority of the day in bed. She was trying desperately to snap herself out of it, she knew she couldn't mope forever, but she was mentally exhausted and it was so much easier to just shut herself off.

Her conversation with her mother the night before hadn't lasted long and Bella hadn't asked why Ness hadn't responded to Michael, but she could hear the unasked questions in her mother's voice. She knew she'd panicked and hadn't reacted in the best way. And it broke her heart every time she remembered the look that Jake had given her before he'd walked away. But she'd begun to feel as if she couldn't breathe, everything was weighing down on her shoulders and she'd needed some space. After he'd left, she'd made her way into the house, knowing she had to call Michael back.

They'd spent an hour on the phone; Michael immediately questioning Ness as to what she had been up to all day that had kept her from calling him. Ness had lied, claiming to have lost track of the time while shopping, and immediately hated herself for it. She'd never been a liar before, and now they were piling up, leaving a trail of destruction along the way.

After she'd apologized, Michael had let it go and moved on, talking about his case and when he thought he'd be able to come home. He'd also mentioned a few options he'd been considering as a make-up anniversary get-away. Ness had cringed internally at that, she couldn't imaging Michael coming home and going back to the way things had been; she couldn't pretend anymore. She'd hardly participated in the conversation after that, only interjecting every-so-often.

When the conversation came to a close, it had been a struggle to get the _I love you_ passed her lips, but she'd managed. She'd known it was another lie, but it had been a necessary one for the time being. Michael didn't deserve to be told over the phone that she no longer wanted to be with him, she'd wait until he was home to do that.

Although the conversation had been difficult for her, it had strengthened her resolve. One of the reasons she'd started freaking out with Jake was because she hadn't been sure if she'd thought everything out before rushing forward. After talking to Michael, she was one hundred percent positive that her marriage was over. If she stayed, it would just cheat both of them.

But even though she knew she was right about Michael, she realized she'd handled things with Jake wrong. She'd been silly to think, just because she decided she was going to get a divorce, that things would go smoothly and she could just pick up and run off to Forks.

There were so many factors; Michael still loved her, she'd signed a pre-nup and he was a very successful attorney. She didn't want anything from him, and she'd be sure everyone knew it, but still…it wouldn't be an easy divorce. Was it fair to drag Jacob through all of that with her, if he were willing to stick around once he knew? Would it have been better if she hadn't come back for him? Should she just pack up her things and leave, as if she'd never been here in the first place?

Those were the things she'd been contemplating all day as she sat in bed. And as she'd been unable to come up with a plan, she'd decided it was a lot easier to just block it all out and not think about it; she was a coward.

…

Jacob managed to somehow make it through the day. Although work had been slow, he'd tried to keep himself occupied. He couldn't stop himself from checking his cell phone every hour though to see if she'd called. And every hour he'd see the same thing…she hadn't.

It was the end of the day now and after locking up the garage, he got on his bike and headed home. He drove fast down the quite streets of the sleepy town, trying to keep his mind off of her. But the fast pace had its disadvantages and before he knew it, he was home. He made his way into the house and quickly spotted his father in the kitchen.

"Hey dad," he said as he walked down the hall and to his room.

His father's next words stopped him. "Hey Jake. Rachel thought we might like a nice dinner and brought over some enchiladas this afternoon. I was just heating them up…you hungry?"

He realized he was actually starving; he hadn't eaten dinner the night before and only had a small lunch. Turning, he walked back towards the kitchen, "Yeah, I could eat, thanks."

They ate in silence; Billy knowing his son well enough not to press him in his current mood and Jake not offering up any details.

Jake cleaned up after dinner and then went to his room. He pulled his cell phone from his back pocket and sat on his bed. _No missed calls_, he thought, setting the phone down on the bed beside him.

He stood and grabbed his laptop from his dresser, needing to keep his mind busy so he wouldn't obsess about Ness and why she hadn't called yet. He spent the next couple of hour's online, checking email and visiting his favorite website, car talk.

It helped to pass the time, it was now eight o'clock, but Jake soon grew bored and closed his laptop, tossing it onto the bed as he stood. He needed to get out, get some fresh air, so he grabbed his phone from the bed and his keys off the dresser before heading out of the house.

…

Twenty minutes later, Jake sat astride his bike, stopped on the side of the road. He hadn't had a particular destination in mind when he'd left his house earlier…at least he hadn't thought so. But now, as he sat near the turn off that led up to Ness' house, he knew this was where he'd been itching to go all day.

He made up his mind then and turned his bike to the left, slowly making his way up the path. When he reached the driveway, he cut it off and dropped the kickstand. He ran his hands nervously through his hair a couple of times before dismounting. Once he stood, he knew there was no turning back.

His stomach rolled as he walked up the front porch and he wondered to himself if he was doing the right thing. She'd been such a mess the day before and she hadn't called him yet, _if she was ready to see me, wouldn't she have called? _He paused then, and for a second he contemplated turning around, getting back on his bike and leaving. But something inside of him stopped him, wouldn't let him turn around, and after a moment, he kept going.

Once he reached the front door, he brought his hand up and rang the doorbell. It was quite and he could hear it going off on the inside. He was confident as he waited for Ness to answer, believing that he was doing the right thing.

But as the seconds passed, and she didn't come to the door, his nervousness returned. _What's taking so long?_ He thought as he rang the doorbell again.

He waited…and waited, but she didn't answer. Jake began to panic, _where is she, why isn't she answering, she wouldn't leave without telling me…would she? _Those thoughts bombarded him and he was seconds away from bringing his fist up and banging on the door. And then he heard something.

Less than a second later, the door opened and Ness stood in front of him. He let out the breath he hadn't realized he'd been holding as he looked her over. He was so relieved she hadn't left that he missed how tired she looked.

"Jacob," she said, but didn't add anything to it.

"Ness," he began, "I know you said you needed some time…but I was so worried. And you promised you'd call but you didn't and I-"

She reached for him, cutting him off as she pulled him into the house by his shirt. Once he was in, she pushed the door shut and pressed herself against him. "Hold me, please," she begged.

Jake complied, lifting his arms and wrapping them around her waist. He stroked her hair as he held her, not saying anything for a moment, just enjoying the feel of her.

After a moment he felt her hands, they started at his hips and slid slowly up his sides and then back down. She repeated the process a few times and Jake just closed his eyes and rested his head on top of hers.

She pulled back some after a second and Jake looked down into her eyes. There were no lights on in the entryway, the moonlight shining through the windows on either side of the door their only illumination.

Jake watched as she lifted herself and when she was just a couple of inches away, he brought his head down to meet hers.

Their lips met, and a spark ignited inside of Jake. He knew there were things they had to talk about but, at the moment, all he cared about was being with Ness, holding her, kissing her.

He let his hands slide down her back and stopped once he reached her ass, squeezing it with his palms and bringing her closer to him. He heard her moan into his mouth at the contact and he squeezed again before dropping his hands slightly and wrapping them around her upper thighs. He used his hands to lift her and she wrapped her legs around his waist.

Jake moved forward then, until he had Ness' back pressed against the wall. He broke the kiss and started a trail along her jaw and up to her ear, "You taste so good," he whispered and then ran his tongue around it.

The sound of his voice and the feeling of his breath on her ear sent shivers down Ness' body and she unintentionally bucked her hips against his. He caught her lobe in between his teeth and flicked it with his tongue before kissing back down her neck. She felt the desire rising up within her and she had to be closer. She used her arms and legs to pull him as close as he could get, but it wasn't enough, there was still too much separating them.

"Jake, let's go upstairs," she demanded.

Jake lifted his head to look at her, but it was too dark in the entryway and Ness couldn't clearly make out the look on his face. Hoping he wasn't about to deny her, Ness raised her hands up into his hair and used them to pull his face towards hers again. She resumed their kiss and cheered internally when she sensed no hesitancy on his part.

The lust had risen quickly within Jake, but he'd heard Ness' plea. Everything they were doing felt so good and he didn't want to stop, but a tiny voice in the back of his head was telling him to slow things down. As he looked at her, it was hard to tell what she was thinking in the dim light, but when she brought his head down to hers and sucked his bottom lip into her mouth, all coherent thoughts left his head and he let his desires lead him.

He moved away from the wall, taking Ness with him as he headed towards the stairs. They didn't break the kiss as they climbed, but he stopped when they reached the top.

Knowing he needed direction, Ness pulled her lips slightly away, "second door on the right."

They moved towards the room, kissing softly as they went, until Jake stopped by the foot of Ness' bed. He leaned down slowly and released his hold on her when she reached the mattress. Once she was on the bed, he stepped back and looked at her.

The wall of windows to his right allowed the moonlight to fill the room and it was much easier to see than it had been downstairs. Jake ran his eyes over Ness, from her head to her feet. As he watched, she lifted her arms and removed her shirt; tossing it to the floor as she starred back at him.

Jakes eyes left her face and focused on her breasts, now only hidden from his view by a lavender bra. The pale tops of her round breasts strained against the material and he felt himself twitch. Her hands reached up behind herself and he knew what was coming next. Realizing his throat had gone dry, he swallowed as he watched the straps of her bra slide off her shoulders and down her arms.

And then the bra fell away leaving her bare, nipples already hard in anticipation. Jake was growing harder by the second and he was beginning to feel uncomfortable in his jeans as he looked her over, but he couldn't drag his eyes away.

Ness felt the heat pulse through her body as Jacobs eyes roamed over her. No one had ever looked at her the way he was; it made her ache. All she was left wearing was a short pair of black cotton shorts and panties, but she wasn't ready to remove them just yet. Instead, she used her hands and legs to help scoot herself back on the bed. When she reached the headboard, she beckoned Jake towards her with her finger.

The simple action broke Jake out of the trance he'd been in. Hurriedly, he lifted his hands behind his back and removed his t-shirt, tossing it aside once it was off. He made a move towards the bed and then hesitated. His jeans were too restricting against him and he didn't want them separating him from Ness anymore. He reached down and unbuckled his belt; he then popped the button and lowered the zipper. Finally, he slid his jeans to the floor and stepped out of them, leaving only his boxers in place.

He started towards the bed again, going around to the left side and keeping his eyes on Ness's face the entire time. Her eyes were wide as they traveled up and down his body and just before he reached her, he saw her tongue dart out and lick her lips

Slowly, he climbed onto the bed and laid himself out beside Ness. He watched her chest heave up and down, her breasts calling him to them. He placed his palm on the bare skin of her waist and brought his head down to her chest.

When his lips made contact with her skin, shocks of pleasure ran through her body. His hand on her waist was squeezing as his tongue circled her taught nipple. After a minute, he switched, sliding his tongue across her body and to her other nipple. This one he took into his mouth, gently nipping and pulling with his teeth and Ness nearly lost it, letting out small gasps and moans.

He started moving his hand lower until it met the waistband of her shorts; pausing for only a second before sliding his hand under. He stopped when he felt the short, soft hairs and softly caressed her without letting his fingers go any further.

He was killing Ness, she wanted so badly for him to touch her but she was too shy to ask. Instead, she began to gently rock her hips up, hopping he'd get the message.

He did, and he took it, moving his hand lower. He let his fingers slide between her folds and he growled deep within his chest as he felt just how much Ness wanted him, "God Ness, you're so wet."

"Is – that okay?" she asked and then gasped as Jakes finger flicked over her clit.

"Fuck yes," he groaned. He moved two of his finger slightly lower and entered her, still keeping his thumb pressed against her clit. She was so tight around his fingers and Jake moaned, imagining how good she'd feel wrapped around his dick later.

When his fingers entered her, Ness started rocking her hips again, matching his movements. As she rose up, she felt Jake slide closer and she was able to feel all of him pressed against her. He felt so hard and hot and big, and she had to touch him.

Using the hand that had been trapped between them, Ness twisted her wrist and wrapped her hand around Jacob through his boxers. She squeezed and began moving her hand slightly up and down, never realizing before how much pleasure she could get from touching someone this way. She didn't have much experience and that, coupled with the things Jake was doing to her own body, made it difficult, but she hoped it felt good for him as well.

It did, and Jacob gave himself a minute to close his eyes as he concentrated on the feel of Ness around his fingers and the way she was moving her hand over his dick. He slowed down his movements and after another second, stopped moving all together.

Ness looked at him then and her hand held still, a question in her eyes. His eyes were dark and his breathing heavy as he starred down at her and asked, "Can I take these off?"

"Uh-huh," she replied breathlessly, removing her hand that was wrapped around Jake. She used her feet to lift her lower half slightly and was just about to pull her shorts off when Jake stopped her.

"I wanna do it." He looked into her eyes so intensely and Ness could only nod in response.

Jake rose up onto his knees and moved until he was kneeling in front of her. He used both of his hands to pull Ness' shorts and panties slowly down her legs. When he reached her feet, she lowered herself back to the bed and he was able to get them off the rest of the way.

She was left lying there, beautifully exposed to Jake and he let his eyes explore all of her for a moment. But he was pulled from his exploration when he heard Ness.

"My turn," was all she said before she quickly sat up. Jake was still on his knees in front of her which left her head at stomach level. She smiled to herself as she leaned forward and let her tongue dart out.

She licked, kissed and sucked on the contours of his abs and Jake felt his stomach clench in pleasure. He wondered how far she was planning on going and felt his dick grew impossibly harder.

Her hands came up then and she hooked her thumbs into the waistband of his boxers. She tilted her head up and locked her eyes with his just before she started sliding them down his thickly muscled thighs.

When she reached his knees, she could go no further. Jake brought up his left hand and softly caressed her check. He leaned down and brought his lips to hers, kissing her hungrily as he used his body to push her backwards.

Her back hit the mattress and she felt Jake settle on top of her; his weight felt so good. But he rose up quickly and it took Ness a second to realize what he was doing,

Using his right hand and his feet, Jake lowered and removed his boxers the rest of the way before pressing his body back against Ness'. He'd wanted to take things slow but they'd gone too far now. He needed her, needed to be inside of her, feel her, and he couldn't stop himself.

"I need you Ness." He whispered.

She wasn't scarred, she knew Jacob wanted her, but she hadn't been expecting the raw desire, the need she'd heard in those four little words. Even more shocking, she realized she felt the same and she nodded, "I need you too."

She felt him at her entrance as he settled between her legs; he was so close and she thrust her hips up slightly into his, giving him the green light. He took it and Ness felt him slide into her as she brought her legs up and wrapped them around his hips.

Jake tried to keep his eyes locked on Ness, but the feeling of her wet heat wrapped around him was too much and his eyes closed as he bit his lip and lowered his head to her shoulder. "Fuck Ness, you feel so good," he managed to get out through gritted teeth.

He was trying to hold onto control, he wanted Ness to feel everything he was feeling and that meant focusing on her first. He raised his head from her shoulder and brought his lips to hers, letting his tongue massage hers as he starting moving inside of her slowly.

He felt Ness respond; using her legs that were wrapped around him to lift her hips off the bed and meet his thrusts. He heard her moans, muffled by his mouth that was pressed against hers, felt her fingers gripping the flesh of his shoulders and he sped up.

Ness broke the kiss as Jake began thrusting faster, moaning as she said, "Yes – Jake." Her breathing was growing heavier by the second as the pleasure intensified and she felt herself racing towards the finish line.

Jake felt Ness pulsing tighter around him every few seconds as she flexed and he couldn't stop the groan that escaped his lips. He wasn't sure how much longer he'd be able to last, but he knew he wanted Ness to come first. Rising up slightly on his right arm, he used his left hand to trail down between their bodies; stopping just above the place they were connected to rub his thumb over Ness' clit.

She let out a gasp as she felt Jake rub her clit in circles. She was moaning incoherently, about to lose control.

"That's it baby, come for me," Jake said, urged on by her cries and pumping harder towards his own release.

Ness barely registered his words, lost in the moment, until it hit her, the crashing peak of ecstasy, and she flung herself over the edge as she screamed his name. "Oh God, J-ake, yes, yes."

Jake couldn't hold back any longer. Feeling Ness, seeing and hearing her as she came, was too much for him. He thrust hard and quick three more times before he reached his own climax.

He came hot and hard and Ness could feel him inside of her as she floated down from her high. She'd never known it could be like this, and it was at that moment that she knew she never wanted it to end.

**A/N: Okay, so, this was my very first lemon. I wrote it and then came back a few days later to re-read it to make sure it was up to par…I'm very picky about my lemons. So I hope it meets all of your standards as well. Please please let me know what y'all think.**


	9. Chapter 9

Jake heard the vibrating coming from the phone on the night table beside the bed and reached for it. It was a struggle to open his eyes, but he managed and began to read the words on the screen, _I'm sorry I can't be there for our anniversary sweetheart, but you were the first thing on my mind when I woke up this morning. I'll call you later. I love you – M. _He was still halfway between sleep and awake and he didn't understand what he'd read. He looked at the words on the screen a second time before he realized he wasn't holding his phone. It was then that the memories from the night before came back to him. He'd been with Ness and fallen asleep with her wrapped in his arms after they'd made love. He looked to his left and there she lay on her stomach, her head turned away from him, obviously still sleeping.

Jake felt the walls beginning to close in around him and he looked to the words on the screen in front of him again. He knew the phone wasn't his, so the only other person it could belong to was Ness…His Ness. He didn't know what to think, but he had a horrible feeling in the pit of his stomach.

Slowly, so as not to wake her, he got out of bed, made his way to the door and quietly left the room, her phone still in hand. Jake made his way down the stairs and into the living room, placing the phone on the coffee table in front of him as he sat on the coach. He starred at it, for how long he wasn't sure, trying to make sense of what he'd read. But he soon realized he needed more information and snatched the phone back up, immediately searching through the saved texts.

He found three other texts from M, or Michael, as he had discovered his name was. Two were from over a week ago and proved nothing, but the third ended just the same as this last one he had read, _I love you – M. _Jake started to feel like he couldn't breath as the reality of the situation sunk in, she belonged to someone else, and it was their anniversary; she'd lied to him. _I gotta get outta here_, he whispered to himself.

He walked up the stairs slowly and entered Ness' room. He checked to make sure she was still sleeping before placing the phone back on the side table and searching for his clothes. Once he found them he began to dress, kicking himself as he did, _how could I have been stupid enough to trust her? _

As soon as he was dressed he quickly left the room and made his way down the stairs. He stopped when he reached the front door, taking a deep breath to try and calm himself before he opened it and walked out.

….

Ness stretched out in the middle of the bed. She felt more refreshed than she had in months and as the memories from the night before drifted back to her, she felt herself smile. But as she stretched, she soon realized that she was alone in the bed. She rolled onto her side and opened her eyes just enough to see the large red digits of the clock on her night stand. It was only 7:20; she knew Jake didn't have to be at work until 8, so she figured he was still somewhere in the house. She made her way out of the bed and blushed when she realized she was still naked. She quickly walked to her dresser and took out the first clothing she found, not wanting Jake to walk in on her while she was naked.

Once decently dressed in a blue tank top and yoga pants, she left the room to look for Jake. Down the hall, the bathroom door was shut, but she didn't hear any noise coming from the other side. She knocked anyway as she called his name, "Jake, you in there?" She waited a few seconds but when she didn't get an answer she opened the door, _empty_. Ness continued checking the house, room by room, until it was obvious to her that he wasn't in it. She tried to stay calm, but a million thoughts were racing through her mind, _where would he go and why did he leave? Does he think last night was a mistake?_ Just before she was about to grab her keys and go looking for him, she heard her phone go off and she hurried to her bedroom to get it, hoping it was him. Once she reached the phone she grabbed it and immediately felt her heart sink as she read the name on the screen, _Michael_.

….

He just couldn't concentrate. He'd tried going to work but after the second time he'd snapped at Claire he knew he just wasn't in the right state of mind to be there. He'd put Claire in charge, called in the part time mechanic and told her he was taking the rest of the day off. Then he got on his bike and started driving.

Ever since he was a young boy, getting out and being on his own had always helped him think. After his mom had passed away, he'd sometimes go out for hours on his own, running through the forests and along the beaches, clearing his head. He'd hoped to find that same peace today, but he just couldn't get what he'd read out of his head.

He felt betrayed and used, but most of all, he hurt, ached in fact; thinking about Ness belonging to someone else was tearing him apart. He didn't know what to do. He'd come close to calling her at least a dozen times, but in the end he'd chicken out, _what would I even say?_

So he just kept riding, no destination in mind, trying to forget all about the girl he thought he'd been falling for.

….

It was after 3 o'clock when Ness finally found him. She'd been searching for him for hours. When she'd checked with Claire at the shop, she'd been told of the foul mood he'd been in earlier that morning and Claire had advised her against going to find him. But her words had only made Ness even more determined to find him. She knew this had something to do with her but couldn't figure it out for the life of her.

She'd answered phone call from Michael earlier. He was heading into court and hadn't had long, just enough time to call her and tell her how much he loved her. After their conversation, she'd almost collapsed. She'd made such a mess out of everything and she was crumbling from the guilt of it all. But she somehow managed to pull herself together. She'd been running and hiding from her problems for long enough; it was time to make it right.

She could see Jake now from her car, out on the beach, watching the waves roll in. It was raining, but he didn't seem to notice. Slowly, Ness exited the car and made her way over to where he stood. She didn't have an umbrella, it hadn't been raining when she'd left the house earlier that morning, but it was the farthest thing from her mind as she approached Jacob.

He hadn't heard her, it was hard to hear anything over the rain and the waves, but he felt her. It was like his body was synched to hers, he could feel the pull whenever she was near. But he ignored it, refusing to even turn and face her.

As she stood behind him, starring at his back, Ness wondered what she should say. Nothing seemed right, she didn't own him and certainly had no right to question him, but she had to know what had happened to make him leave without a word. So she took in a deep breath for courage and asked, "Where've you been all day? And why are you standing out here in the rain?"

She waited for his response, but he said nothing, the only indication that he'd even heard her had been a slight tensing of his shoulder muscles. So she spoke again, "Please Jacob, you're scarring me."

He'd had enough, what right did she have to come looking for him, to come to his beach and question him after what she'd done, _who does she think she is?_ He turned then and looked directly into her eyes, there was only one question he had for her, "who's Michael?"

Ness felt her heart skip a beat as Jake said his name, _how does he know about him, and how much does he know? _These thoughts ran through her head but all she could manage to get out was, "w-what?"

Jake sneered as he looked down at her, "You heard me. And what anniversary is he missing?"

"H-how do you…know about that?" Ness asked. She felt the fear rising within her, almost chocking.

"Because I saw the fucking text message he sent you this morning," He shouted back at her. He was angry and his control over his emotions was quickly slipping away.

Ness took a step back, startled by his tone, before she responded. "You went through my phone?"

"Oh please," Jake scoffed. "Don't get all high and mighty on me alright? It was a fucking accident that I saw it in the first place. But so what if I looked, that's shit compared to what you've been hiding. Now like I asked in the first place, who the fuck is Michael?"

He was yelling now. Part of Renesmee was scarred, but the other part knew he was right. _What did it matter if he looked through my phone? If I hadn't been hiding something in the first place it wouldn't even matter. _

She looked up at him hesitantly; she could see the heat blazing behind his eyes. She knew it was time. "He's my husband."

She spoke so softly that it was hard for Jake to hear her over the sound of the waves, but he had heard. It was worse than he thought. He assumed that she had a boyfriend she just hadn't told him about, he never thought she'd be married. "You're married?" He asked in disbelief, his voice almost as quiet as hers had been.

Jake wasn't made any more, he was crushed. He had actually started to believe he was falling for the girl and she was just using him, she was already married. "How could you do this to me?"

Ness began to panic as she took in the hopeless look on Jakes face, almost wishing he'd go back to being angry. "Jake please, let me explain."

"What's there to explain? You're married, the end. What did you expect? Did you think I'd just wait around for you to come to town every other weekend? Be your dirty little secret? Give you what you're not getting' at home?"

She was startled again. She'd never thought of Jacob that way and she hadn't realized that he would when he found out. "No, that's not it. I'm…I'm leaving him. I'm leaving him for you."

Jake rolled his eyes at her, not believing any of it, "Oh yeah, and when did you decide that?"

"Last week, before I came back. I've been unhappy for a long time and it took coming here and meeting you to make me see what love really could be."

This time it was Jake who was startled at her mention of love. "So you love me?" He asked skeptically.

Ness nodded her head emphatically. She hadn't truly admitted it to herself yet, but she found that the words were easy to speak aloud, "Yes, yes I love you."

For an instant, a small spark of hope ignited within him. But he quickly squashed it when he thought about every chance she'd had to tell him the truth, but hadn't. "Then why didn't you tell me about him?"

Ness hesitated, she desperately wanted to fix this but she was beginning to think that nothing she said would make Jake forgive her yet. "I tried, that first night I came back. Remember I kept saying how there was something I needed to tell you, but you said as long as I wanted you, you didn't care. And I do want you Jacob, only you. I was going to tell you about Michael, I swear. I was just waiting for the right time."

"Well don't you think the right time for that would have been before we fucked?" The words came out so fast, before he'd even realized what he was going to say. He knew it was cruel but he couldn't apologize. He was hurting and he wanted her to hurt too.

Ness felt as though she'd been slapped in the face. Everything she had within her had been sucked out; she took a half step backwards and her words were nearly inaudible when she spoke. "I'm so sorry Jacob. Please, you have to believe me, I never meant to hurt you or lie to you. I…I just want to be with you."

Jacob was disgusted with himself and her as well. All he had ever wanted was to share with someone what his friends and his sister and his parents had had. And here in front of him was someone who had taken her marriage and her vows and thrown it all away. How could he respect that, how could he be with someone who could do that?

He sighed exasperatedly as he ran his hands through his wet hair. "It's one thing to keep it from me Ness, but it's completely different to keep it from him. If you don't love your husband any more, if you're not happy, he deserves to know. And based on those texts I read, he still loves you." He starred down at her; he knew his words were painful to her as he watched her wince as he spoke.

But he still had one last thing to say, something that he knew would hurt them both. He took a deep breath before he started, "I – I could never be with someone…who could do that."

He saw the panic reach her eyes at his final words and knew he couldn't take anymore. He quickly turned, taking his first step to walk away, but he felt Ness' hand reach for his arm. He turned back again before she had got a good grip and she stumbled, falling to her knees in the wet sand.

Before he could make a move to help her up, she looked up at him. The Rain continued to pour down onto the both of them, running over their faces as she spoke, "Please Jacob, I'm begging you, don't go, don't let me go."

Jake couldn't keep his eyes on her. A part of him was hurt and upset about all of the things she had been hiding. But another part had reacted to what she had said and desperately wanted him to pick her up and wrap her in his arms. But he wouldn't let himself give in. He turned away again and said over his shoulder, "I'm sorry, I can't"

He heard her break down then and knew he had to get away, she was crying and calling his name, but the farther away he moved, the harder it was to hear her, until finally he couldn't hear her at all.


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Wow, I'm totally shocked and extremely excited by the number of people that have put this story on their alerts over the past couple of weeks. Because of that and the incredible reviews I received for the last chapter, I busted my butt to get this chapter out to you. Two chapters in less than a week…I can't believe it. But please, please do not expect this to be a typical thing. I'm still extremely busy with school, work and wedding planning. But…reviews do give me the inspiration to burn the midnight oil and write write write my little heart out So; I won't keep you in suspense any longer…Enjoy!**

…

Ness sat at the small table in her parents yellow kitchen, grasping a mug of tea between her hands. It had been a week since she'd seen Jacob; a week since she'd showed up on her parents' door step crying hysterically.

It hadn't been easy, but once she'd calmed down, she'd told her mother everything. All about her trip to Forks, meeting Jake, and falling in love; she left nothing out. At the end, she felt relieved, like a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. She'd always been extremely close to her mother and couldn't remember her reasons for not coming to her sooner. Now that she looked back, admitting things to her mother had been the easy part.

She'd had her parents support after coming clean, and together, they went to the home she'd shared with Michael and removed all of her belongings. She left behind the many gifts and antiques he'd given her throughout their time together, along with her wedding ring.

The ring was a family heirloom that had been passed down from generation to generation for over three hundred years. Being the somewhat forgetful and clumsy person that she was, Ness had been terrified when he'd given it to her. For that reason, the ring tended to stay locked away in the safe in their bedroom more times than not.

After removing the remainder of her possessions, the only thing left for her to do was wait for Michael to return.

It certainly hadn't been a joyful reunion. Ness had barely been sleeping, crying most of the nights away instead. She looked horrible and she knew he could sense that something was wrong the minute he saw her.

She was alone, opting not to have her parents there for the exchange; this was something she had to do on her own. She'd jumped in with both feet, explaining to Michael how things hadn't felt right with her for some time. She let him know that she felt stifled and that she'd come to realize that his life wasn't the life she wanted for herself.

She told him almost everything, the only thing she left out was Jake. It was hard enough; she didn't see any reason to bring Jake into it. For all she knew, she'd never see him again anyway.

Michael hadn't thrown in the towel without a fight either. He'd begged, and to Ness, it'd seemed as if he were on the verge of tears; she'd never seen him that distraught in all of their time together.

She felt horrible, but she knew it was what she had to do and she begged back, asking Michael to understand and to let her go.

The entire encounter hadn't lasted much more than an hour and had ended once Ness admitted that she already had an attorney who was drafting the divorce papers. A phone call to her Uncle Jasper the day before had arranged that for her. After that, it was as if all of the fight had been taken out of Michael and he didn't try to stop her as she walked out of their former home.

"Renesmee, do you want some more tea?" Hearing the voice of her mother brought Ness back to the present and she looked up into her warm brown eyes. She shook her head no, offering up a little smile.

She knew that both her mother and father were worried about her; she'd barely been sleeping and had only eaten miniscule amounts. She needed to get herself back on track, and fast.

Her mother smiled back as she moved to the sink, emptying the remaining contents of the tea down the drain. It was another few moments before she spoke again, "honey…have you tried calling him?"

Although she didn't say his name, Ness knew that her mother was speaking of Jake and not Michael, and she winced at the pain she felt in her chest from the mere thought of him.

She'd already promised herself that there'd be no more hiding things from her family, so she went with the truth, "yes, two days ago."

Her mother turned to face her, a slightly surprised look on her face as she asked, "and?"

Ness laughed derisively, "and nothing. He didn't answer, I left a message and he hasn't called back."

She watched as her mother made her way towards the table. Her sympathetic eyes felt undeserved and Ness had to look away quickly as she felt her own eyes begin to sting; the telltale precursor to her tears.

Bella took a seat at the table across from her daughter. Her heart was breaking for her and she wished that there was something more she could do. But she knew that her daughter was an adult; she had made a few not so smart decisions and she needed to find her way back.

"Renesmee," Bella began as she took her daughters hand in hers. "I know that right now, things seem hopeless. And I can't say that one day soon this Jacob will wake up and realize that he loves you regardless…But I do know that you are a strong, beautiful, smart woman. And I know this because that's the woman your father and I raised you to be. And no matter what, you will recover from this, with or without this Jacob."

"Mom, you just don't get it, but you should. What I feel for Jacob…it's what you feel for dad. What Aunt Rose feels for Uncle Emmett. What Aunt Alice feels for Uncle Jasper. It's something that I never understood and quite frankly, didn't really believe existed until I felt it myself."

Ness took a moment to take in a few deep breaths, calming herself before she spoke again, "I messed up. I went to Forks to get away, but I never expected to fall in love, to meet the one person who completes me. And now…If I can't fix things, if he won't give me a chance…I may recover over time, but I'll always be missing a piece of myself."

She looked directly into her mother's eyes as she spoke, and she saw the spark of recognition. Elated, she realized that she'd finally convinced her mother of the depth of her feelings for Jake. Now all that was left was for Ness to convince him.

…

Over the next two weeks, Ness tried calling Jake three more times; each call went to voicemail and none were returned. After three weeks of not seeing or hearing from him, she was starting to get desperate. She had fleeting thoughts of driving to Forks in the middle of the night and waiting on his door step for him to come out first thing in the morning. Each time, her palms would itch with the need to grab her keys and go, but she resisted, knowing it wouldn't be a smart move; he clearly wasn't ready.

But if she couldn't see or speak to him herself, she knew she had to have some other link to him; and that's when she decided to call Claire.

She and Claire had hit it off while she'd been in Forks and the two had exchanged numbers. At the time she hadn't envisioned calling her under these circumstances, but desperate times called for desperate measures.

On the afternoon that she decided to make the call, she was more nervous than she'd ever been. Thoughts kept running through her head about what Jake had told everyone about what had happened and what Claire would think of her. But she couldn't let that stop her.

After picking up her phone, Ness quickly scrolled through her contacts, selecting Claire when she found it. The phone rang and rang and her stomach dropped as she thought that it too might go to voicemail, she hadn't thought about that possibility.

But then, just before she was about to end the call, someone answered. "Hello?" she heard a gasping, out of breath Claire say.

"Um," Ness was momentarily tongue tied, now that she had Claire on the line, she'd forgotten everything she'd wanted to say. "Uh…Hi…Claire. This is Ness, Jacob's…friend?" The last part came out sounding more like a questions and Ness wanted to kick herself for sounding so stupid.

"Oh my god, Ness, hi, how are you? Wow, you're the last person I expected to hear from."

Ness was unsure of which route to take. Claire clearly thought she'd never speak to her again, but she sounded happy to hear from her. _How much does she know?_

Deciding to play it cool, Ness laughed before speaking, "Well, I just had some free time and thought I'd give you a call and see how everything was going."

She heard Claire snort on the other end, "yeah, sure. I like you Ness, but I have a pretty good built in bullshit detector. So why don't you tell me the real reason you called?"

Ness was pretty much speechless. Claire was clearly onto her, but again, her tone hadn't sounded hostile. So after a brief internal debate, she decided to come out with the truth. "Well, actually, now that you mention it…I uh, was calling to uh…check on Jake."

"Well, it's about damn time." Was all Clair said in response.

Ness was surprised again; nothing about this conversation was going as she'd expected, "excuse me?"

She heard Claire let out a sigh before she spoke, "Listen Ness. I don't know what happened between you and Jake. Honestly, he's hardly talked to any of us the past few weeks. But it's pretty obvious to us all that he's miserable. At work, he's always in a horrible mood; the slightest thing sets him off. And none of us besides his father and sister see him outside of work. But he won't talk to any of us to tell us what's going on, so maybe you can fill me in?"

It was worse than she had thought. Jake and his friends had all seemed so close when she'd visited La Push with him, more like family than friends. And she felt responsible for ruining that for him. She had no idea how to fix it. But Claire had known Jacob almost all of his life, if anyone might know how to help her, it was Claire. But to accomplish that, she knew she had to tell Claire the truth; and all of it.

"Claire, this is all my fault…there's something I need to tell you…"

Ness started at the beginning, just as she had with her aunt Rose, and her parents, leaving nothing out. Claire interjected only seldom, asking a question here and there.

By the time she was done, Ness could tell Claire was shocked. She hadn't said anything in a while and it took Ness clearing her throat to get her to speak.

"Well…I certainly didn't expect that." She was quiet again for a moment and Ness gave her time to gather her thoughts.

"Ness I…" but she stopped there, not knowing what to say.

"Claire, I know I made a mistake. Albeit the Grand Canyon of mistakes, but a mistake none the less. I did things the wrong way but I had honorable intentions, I swear." Ness knew that she had to present a strong case to get Claire to help her after everything she'd just divulged. She and Jake were close as brother and sister; of course she'd be protective.

"Ya know," Claire started softly, and Ness crossed her fingers, hoping for the best. "As soon as I saw you and Jake together, I knew there was something different about you…the two of you actually, together. I've known Jake my whole life, I trusted him when I was a toddler and I looked up to him as a little girl. When I grew up and started falling for Quil, Jake was the only one who knew, and he kept my secret. When Quil would go on dates, Jake was the one who let me cry on his shoulder. And when I was finally old enough, he was the one that pushed me to go after Quil. Who knows, without Jake, Quil and I might not have become Quil and I."

Claire paused and Ness could hear as she took a deep breath before continuing, "What I'm trying to say is, I've been there with Jake every step of the way. I love him…and even though I saw something when the two of you were together, I have to know, without a doubt, that you're in this thing if I'm going to help you."

Once she heard that, for the first time in the past three weeks, Ness felt a flicker of hope. "Oh Claire, you have no idea, none. I – I am so in this. All I want…is Jake. But he won't talk to me and I have zero chance of fixing this if he won't even speak to me."

There was quite from the other end as Ness waited for Claire to say something. And then, "Okay."

"Okay?" Ness asked.

"Yes, Okay. I'll talk to Jake, test the waters so to speak. Based on his mood the past few weeks, if we're going to fix this, it won't be easy. Just give me a couple of days. I'll see what I can do and then I'll call you back."

"Oh my God Claire…you have no idea…I'm just…" Ness couldn't even finish. Silent tears were falling from her eyes and they made it nearly impossible to speak without getting chocked up.

"Yeah well…just don't make me regret it."

"Never," Ness vowed.

After they wrapped up the call, Ness went straight to her bedroom. She'd gone through three weeks of restless, fitful sleep. Now that she had a small beacon of hope in the form of Claire, she could feel the exhaustion taking over. Giving into it, she climbed into her bed. Just minutes after her head touched the pillow, she was out cold.

…

Two days went by as Claire mulled over what she'd spoken to Ness about. She'd believed her, but she had to find the right time to approach the topic with Jake.

She finally decided to talk to him at work on a Thursday afternoon. He'd come in that morning looking horrible; tired and unshaven, and he smelled like he'd taken part in a long night of drinking.

Claire hated seeing her friend like that and she hoped that she could help bridge the gap between the two of them and get them speaking again.

She made her way out to the garage and approached the car Jake was working on. He was under the hood which hid his face, but she could see the rest of him clearly. "Hey Jake," she started. "How're things going?"

When all she got in response was a grunt from him, she took a deep breath and kept going. "I talked to Ness the other day."

She saw that Jake had stopped moving at the mention of Ness and she nervously twisted her fingers as she waiting for him to respond.

After a moment, he straightened up and Claire could finally see his face over the raised hood; and he didn't look happy. "You what?"

"I uh - I said I talked to um, Ness." Clair stammered. "She's desperate Jake. She just wants to talk to you."

Jake disappeared back under the hood of the car he was working on as he spoke, "we have nothing to talk about. She belongs to someone else, the end."

Claire jumped in quickly, hoping Jake would be happy with the news she had. "No, you're wrong Jake. She explained a lot to me when talked. I think if you just hear her out, give her the chance to explain –

Suddenly, Jake slammed the hood of the car down as he yelled, "FUCK." Effectively silencing Claire and making her jump back in surprise.

He looked directly at her and Claire could see the torment written all over his face. "I can't Claire. I'm begging you…just stay out of it, please."

Without saying anything else, Claire nodded her head and turned to leave.

Jake avoided her for the rest of the day, not even saying bye at the end of the night like he typically did. She made her way home in silence, not even turning on the radio as she thought about how Jake had responded to their conversation.

It was obvious to her that he was hurting. But what she realized was that he wouldn't be hurting so much if he didn't care. And that thought all but made her mind up for her; whatever she had to do, she'd somehow find a way to help get Jake and Ness back together.

**A/N: There it is, so tell me, what did you think? Any predictions on where this story is going? I've got most of the story mapped out already and a lot of key points fully written And because I love to hear what you all have to say, anyone who reviews will get a preview of the next chapter….and it's gonna be a good one **


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: Yeah it's a new chapter! I know it's been a couple weeks since the last update and it will probably be at least another two weeks till the next one – so this is an extra-long chapter for you, about double what my normal chapters are. I hope you like it - **

Ness stood in the middle of her new living room, unpacking boxes. It had been six months since she'd seen or spoken to Jake, and every day was harder than the last to make it through. But she'd had enough to deal with without taking Jake into consideration. After her first couple conversations with Claire, she'd realized how angry he was, and she knew they both needed time.

Instead of trying to make Jake forgive her, she'd spent the past six months sorting out the mess she'd made of her own life. It wasn't easy; the divorce took so much out of her emotionally. It was hard to sit across from Michael and see the hurt in his eyes, but she knew that they would both be better off in the long run. Her family had been her rock, sticking by her side and offering a shoulder to cry on when she couldn't hold it in anymore.

Finally, after a grueling five months, the divorce was finalized; she was a free woman. She was free to move on and go about her life anyway that she chose…but she'd had no idea what she should do. It took a couple of weeks, but she made up her mind and now fully believed that she was doing the right thing. It was time to move on.

As she stood in her new living room, she looked around the room and a sense of calmness surrounded her. This was her chance for a fresh start. She took in a deep breath and smiled to herself as she folded the top of the box in front of her back down. It was late and time for her to go to bed. She was starting a new job in the morning and didn't want to risk being late.

As she climbed into bed that night, she pondered the endless possibilities of her new life. For the first time in months, she couldn't wait for morning to come.

…...

Monday morning had come all too early for Jake. He'd spent the night before at a local bar and ended up having one too many beers. He was in a foul mood by the time he got to the shop and wasn't looking forward to being at work and having to talk to and be nice to people.

As he got off his bike and walked over to the garage, he noticed a strange older car in the lot. He knew that Claire should be the only one at the shop, but he knew that wasn't her car so he decided to go into the office and check on her. He pushed the doors to the bays open after unlocking them and walked into the office through the connecting door in the garage. As he passed through the door, he started to speak before he even looked up, "Hey Claire, whose car is – " But halfway through his question he raised his head...and his throat closed up.

Jake couldn't speak and he could barely think straight. He'd had too much to drink the night before and was suffering from a massive hangover that wasn't helping matters any. But making it even worse for him was the person standing in front of him. He'd been expecting to see Claire when he entered the office, but instead he ended up being less than ten feet away from the woman who'd been haunting his dreams and making it nearly impossible to sleep for the past six months.

Jake swallowed, trying to clear his throat enough to speak, "what-what are you…where is Claire?" He'd wanted to scream it but the words ended up coming out just barely above a whisper.

Ness took in a deep breath to calm herself. She hadn't seen Jake in so long and her heart had started beating wildly when he first entered the office. He looked amazing; tired, but amazing…and mad. She knew this would be hard, that Jake wouldn't just melt at seeing her after 6 months, but there was a small part of her that hoped to see some flicker of happiness cross his features after seeing her. But she quickly realized that wasn't going to happen. Ness pulled herself together, determined to continue with her plan, "Well good morning to you too," she replied. "In answer to your question, Claire is at home starting her maternity leave. And I…" she paused, trying to build up enough courage to get the next part out, "I'll be covering for her while she's out."

Ness watched as the emotions played out across Jakes face, first confusion, then shock and finally settled on anger. "What do you mean, covering for her?" he asked in a quiet but seething voice.

"I mean that while she's out on maternity leave for the next three months or so, I'll be working here in her place." Ness tried to sound confident, but it was hard to keep her voice from cracking as Jake seemed to go from angry to pissed off with each word she spoke.

She knew it was coming, and Jake didn't disappoint. He blew up yelling, "How the hell can you be covering for her, you don't even live here?"

Ness stayed calm, knowing it wouldn't benefit either of them for her to yell back or worse, start crying. "Well, you're wrong about that…I do live here. I just finished moving into to my grandparents' house. Actually, it's my house now, and I'm not all done yet, I still have a couple of boxes left to unpack." She said, shrugging like it was no big deal.

Everything crashed down on Jake then as her words sunk in. Ness was here, she was going to be working with him, 5 days a week for the next 3 months at least. He was going to see her almost every day of the week. _How am I going to handle this? _He thought to himself.

Ness watched as Jake paled, she didn't know what was going through his head now, but he looked shocked and crushed at the same time. She wanted to go to him, comfort him, but she knew it wasn't her place; so she stayed where she was and watched as Jake turned and left the office.

….

Jake spent the rest of the day trying to keep his mind off of Ness, but it was hard. Even though he wasn't paying attention to her, it was like his body could sense her. He knew when she was close and when she wasn't. The only other thing she'd said to him all day had been around lunch time. She'd come out to the garage area and asked if he'd like her to pick him up something to eat.

He hadn't answered; he didn't even look at her. But he certainly felt it when she turned and walked away. At the end of the day, he lowered and locked the doors to the bays, got on his bike and drove away without saying another word to her.

He rode as fast as he could to the reservation, with only one destination in mind.

When he arrived at the small, blue framed house, he turned off his bike, dropped the kickstand and quickly made his way to the front door.

He knocked, growing more agitated by the second as he waited for someone to answer. When Quil finally opened the door, Jake didn't even let him get a word out. "I need to talk to Claire," he demanded.

Quil took in Jakes rattled demeanor and asked, "What the hell's the matter with you?"

"Nothing, I just need to talk to Claire." He replied.

Quil looked at Jake wearily. "I don't know man, you seem a little on edge. Claire's 8 months pregnant, she can't really be dealing with any stress."

Jake took a moment to try and calm himself down, taking a few deep breaths, before he answered. "I know, and I'm sorry. I promise I won't stress her out. I just need to ask her something about the shop. It won't take more than a minute or two, I promise."

Quil was still a little uncertain, but he nodded and backed up to let him in. Jake had been one of his best friends since before they could walk and Quil knew that Jake would never do anything to risk his wife or his child's safety. "She's in the kitchen."

"Thanks," Jake said, nodding at his friend before making his way to the kitchen.

As soon as he entered the small kitchen he saw Claire sitting at the table, peeling a potato. She looked up when she heard footsteps and Jake clearly saw the guilty look that crossed her face when she realized it was him.

Neither of them said anything for a moment, they just studied each other. Finally, Jake broke the silence. "I assumed you'd helped her. And from the guilty look on your face, I'd say I'm right."

Claire lifted her chin, getting a little defensive. "Yes, you're right. But you wouldn't listen Jake, I tried to talk to you and you shut me down. Hell, you wouldn't even return the girls calls. What was she supposed to do?"

Jake was livid but he did his best to keep his voice calm as he replied, "Did it ever occur to you that I didn't return her calls because I didn't give a _shit_ about _her_ or what _she_ was going to do? All I know is, you were my friend, and I asked you to stay out of it. Thanks for nothing."

With that said Jake turned and left the house, not giving Claire any opportunity to respond, too afraid that he'd lose the little control he had left.

…

The rest of the week passed by much the same. Jake would go to work, do his best to ignore Ness, and leave immediately after. But each day it got getting harder and harder for him to concentrate.

Working on cars used to be his escape. After his mom had died, he'd thrown himself into it, learning everything he could. He would go out to his old garage and spend hours working on his dads' old truck or the lawn mower; if it had an engine, Jake had probably worked on it. And the last sixth months had been the same. He threw himself into his work to keep his mind off of her and the pain he felt. But now it was like his place, his escape, had been taken from him.

Thankfully it was now Saturday, which meant Ness wouldn't be at the shop and he was hoping to get some peace out of the day.

It passed slowly with just three cars showing up for minor problems that were easily fixed. In between cars, Jake kept his mind occupied by thinking of other things; like the dinner at his sister's house that he'd been manipulated into showing up at later that night.

His sister Rachel had come by his house on Wednesday claiming that his nephew Taylan missed him and thought that his uncle Jake didn't love him anymore because he hardly ever came over to play with him.

Rachel was good; she knew that to Jake, his nephew was one of the most important things in the world. And all she had to say to get him to do something was use his nephew as bait.

So Jake had agreed to go, but he wasn't looking forward to it. These past six months hadn't been easy for him. He'd spent the majority of his free time alone, isolating himself from his friends and family. There'd been only a handful of times that he'd actually shown up at a function. But they'd only been quick pop ins so that everyone knew he was still alive; Christmas was included on that list.

New Year's Eve had been spent in Port Angeles. Tired of being alone and hurting, he'd gone to a bar hoping to meet someone for a quick, no strings hook-up. But when he got there, all motivation left him when he heard the song that was playing; it was the same song that he'd danced to with Ness that night on the beach. Instead of looking for someone to pass the time with, he made a b-line to the bar and spent the night getting shit faced and turning away anyone that approached.

Deep down, he knew he couldn't stay like this forever. He was the happy-go-lucky, fun to be around guy, not the cold-hearted, bitter guy that kept to himself and had no friends. He'd realized after New Year's Eve that he needed to make more of an effort to get passed this, to forget her, and he was honestly going to try; but then she'd showed up.

It's not like he could just make her leave either. She had the right to live and work wherever she wanted. For a second, he'd thought about calling Dowling and telling him that the new girl just wasn't gonna cut it, didn't have the skills to keep up with things. But that thought had lasted less than a minute. No matter what had happened between them, he knew he couldn't do that to her.

Realizing it was close to quitting time, Jake started packing things up so that he could head out right after Dowling called to check on things. He had a dinner to go to that not only would his family be at, but his friends that he'd been avoiding lately as well. Thinking about everyone made Jake take a step back and see the big picture. Whether Ness was here in Forks or three and half hours away in Seattle didn't make a difference. He was the one who had to be strong enough to move on and stop letting her affect him. It was time to start living his life again.

…..

Claire sat across from Ness at the wooden table in the small yellow kitchen of the Ateara house. They'd been drinking iced tea and discussing how things had gone the past week for the last hour.

Mentally exhausted, Ness dropped her arms to the table and rested her head on them while letting out an exasperated sigh. "I just don't know what to do Claire. He won't even look at me let alone talk to me…how am I supposed to get him to listen?"

Claire reached out her hand and began to rub Ness' forearm. "I know its hard sweetie but you can't give up, you love him and if he didn't love you too, he wouldn't be acting this way. But he's a stupid, pig-headed man and his precious ego's been bruised so he's not letting himself hear you. He can't go on like this forever. Deep down, Jake's a good guy, he'll come around, you just gotta keep working at it."

Ness looked up at her friend and smiled; thankful she had Claire in her life. The past six months hadn't been easy for Ness either. After serving Michael with the divorce papers, he'd lost it. Somehow, even after she'd told him to his face that it was over and he saw that she'd moved all of her stuff out, he still believed that she wasn't serious. He'd come to her parents' house looking for her and he'd begged and pleaded for hours for her to come home, but Ness was firm and stood her ground. The final straw was when he offered her anything she wanted, a new house, car, jewelry, even a baby if she wanted; and that's when she'd lost it, telling him in no uncertain terms what she thought of his offer. It was just like Michael to think he could buy back her affections. It took hours and in the end, she had to force him to leave with help from her father. But after that, he didn't put up a fight.

As the months passed and finalization of the divorce grew closer, Ness began to plan for the future. She knew she wanted to see Jake, but didn't know how that would go over; they hadn't spoken since that day on the beach. She'd stayed in contact with Claire though and from what she said; Jake had pretty much been keeping to himself.

It was during one of her conversations with Claire that they came up with the idea of how to get Ness back in Jake's life. Claire, who was seven months pregnant and would be going on maternity leave the following month, would be leaving behind her office manager position at Dowling's. Ness had more than enough skills to handle the position and Claire had offered to hand deliver her resume to Mr. Dowling along with a shining recommendation. They both agreed that if Ness just moved to Forks, Jake could simply avoid her as he'd been doing with everyone else. But if they were working in the same shop, day in and day out…well, it'd be a lot harder to avoid her then.

Once Dowling looked over her resume and offered her the job, Claire and Ness plotted out the rest of their plan. Her divorce was finalized on January 7th and Claire's last day at the shop was set for January 21st. Ness would spend that weekend moving herself and all of her possessions into her grandparents old house and report to work first thing Monday morning, January 23rd. Once they had all of the details finalized, Ness sat back and waited to start the next chapter of her life.

Now however, she was beginning to get discouraged.

Suddenly changing the subject, Claire said, "Okay, enough with the mopping around, you know what you need?" when Ness only starred back, she continued, "You need to have some fun."

Ness let out a chuckle at the eagerness she heard in Claire's voice, "I'm sure I could use a night out, but I just don't think I'm up for it."

Claire rolled her eyes, "Save it, I'm not taking no for an answer. And it's not exactly a night out, its dinner at Rachel and Paul's house. But it'll do you good and if you're going to live here you need to have more friends than just me."

Ness bit her lip nervously, she wasn't too sure if this was a good idea. "I don't know Claire, dinner at Rachel's? I don't know how Jake would feel about me showing up uninvited to a dinner at his sister's house."

"Oh please," Claire responded, "Jake won't even be there, he's been such a hermit lately. And as a matter of fact you were invited, by me." She finished with a cheeky smile.

It took another minute or so of persuasion, but at the end, Ness agreed to go to the dinner.

….

Jake opened the door and walked into his sister's house without knocking. He was expected so there was no need, and he doubted anyone would've been able to hear anyway over the noise coming from the inside when he approached the door.

When he stepped into the house, he looked around at all of the familiar, smiling faces of his friends and family and felt a calm wash over him. He'd missed this over the past few months but he'd never let himself admit it.

Most of them were there; Paul sat on the couch with his dad beside him in his chair as they watched some game on the TV. Sam sat in the rocking chair across the room while Emily sat in his lap; their three year old Shayla was on the floor at their feet playing with some blocks. He could see Embry and Dyani in the next room, setting dishes and glasses down on the long table that had been set up while making googly eyes at each other. They'd gotten engaged over Christmas and it was clear to see they were still on cloud nine. And finally, Quil and Taylan, who were sitting in the middle of the floor playing with some matchbox cars.

Paul was the first to notice him and called out, "Damn Black, didn't expect to see your face here tonight." He had to shout to be heard over the TV and the music coming from the kitchen; not to mention the various conversations going on around him.

Having heard his father, Taylan turned and spotted Jake. He quickly got up and ran over, forgetting about his game of cars for the time being, "Uncle Jake, Uncle Jake, you came, I knew you'd come. Mommy said she didn't think you would be I knew it, I just knew it," he said as he hoped around at Jakes feet.

His enthusiasm was contagious and Jake couldn't help but laugh as he bent down to pick his nephew up. He gave him a big hug and said, "Of course midget, I wouldn't have missed it."

As he set him back down, Jake gave a nod to the rest of the room and quick hey. Everyone returned the greeting and smiled back, happy to see Jake out.

Taylan grabbed Jakes hand and started leading him to the small town he'd constructed in the middle of the floor. "Uncle Jake, you wanna play cars with me and Quil?" He asked, collapsing onto the floor and tugging on Jake's hand to get him to follow.

Jake looked down and smiled, "Just a sec midge, I wanna say hi to your mom," and then looking to his right, "she in the kitchen Paul?"

"Uh, yeah," he answered, not taking his eyes off the screen.

"I'll be right back and then we'll play, I promise," he said looking down to Taylan again.

He was already back to playing with his cars and didn't even look at Jake as he said, "Okay."

Jake chuckled and thought to himself, _like father like son_, as he made his way to the kitchen at the back of the house.

He was still chuckling to himself when he heard it, a laugh, just as he was about to turn the corner into the kitchen. But it wasn't just any laugh, it was her laugh. He was positive; he'd know it anywhere even though he hadn't heard it in six months. And suddenly, all traces of humor left him.

He entered the kitchen and there she was, and what made it worse, she was with his sister. Claire was there too, but he already considered her a traitor so this was nothing new; but his own sister, _how could she?_ _Is this why she wanted me to come tonight? Is she in on whatever crazy scheme Ness and Claire have going on?_ All of these thoughts and more swam through his head, but all he could do was stare.

He could tell they'd been having a good time, laughing even. But as soon as he entered and they noticed him, the laughter stopped.

Seeing the look on her brother's face, Rachel quickly went to his side. He looked like he was about to blow a gasket and she knew she had to diffuse the situation.

When Claire and Quil had showed up with Ness in tow, she'd been happy to see her. The last time she'd seen her brother truly happy had been that night on the beach when she'd met Ness.

They'd asked shortly after arriving if Jake would be coming and Rachel had admitted that she honestly didn't know. She'd done her best to try and coerce him, but he was unpredictable and her guess was as good as anyone else's. Ness had seemed to get a little nervous at that, saying that Jake might not be happy to see her if he showed up. But both Rachel and Claire had insisted that no matter what had happened between them, he was a big boy and he could handle it.

Looking at her brother's face now, Rachel wasn't so sure of that anymore. "Hey bro," she said as she tried to lean in and give him a hug, but he just brushed her off.

She took a step back so she could see his face and try another tactic, "I'm glad you came, Taylan's been asking all day if I thought you'd come, that kids crazy about you."

But he didn't look at her once and he didn't say anything in response, he just kept starring at Ness. Finally, through gritted teeth, he spoke, "What the fuck is she doing here?"

Rachel gasped, surprised, "Jacob. What is wrong with you? She's a guest in my home, how dare you talk to her like that!"

Jake turned on Rachel then, "She's a guest? And what the hell am I, huh? I thought I was your brother, family, but I see where your loyalties lay."

Having seen enough, Claire chose that moment to jump in. "Okay, that's enough. He's just surprised Rach, he didn't mean it. And Jake, honestly, don't you think you're over-reacting just a little bit? I think you need to-"

Jake decided to interrupt her then, "I don't give a shit what you think Claire. I've had enough of your meddling in my life. Why can't you just leave me the fuck alone?"

Ness just stood back in the corner, watching it all play out in front of her. She'd froze the second she saw Jake and she hadn't been able to move since. She'd never seen him this mad before and she didn't know what to do or say. And He and Rachel and Claire, they were all so wrapped up in it all that none of them noticed Quil enter the kitchen just in time to hear Jake tell his wife to leave him the fuck alone; none of them except Ness.

She would have warned him, she was just about to yell his name, but it happened too fast. As soon as the words were out of Jakes mouth, Quil tapped on his shoulder. Jake swung around fast but not fast enough to block, and he took the punch Quil threw right in the middle of his face.

Jacob was taller, but Quil's arms were all muscle and it was easy to hear the crunch of bones when his fist collided with Jake's face.

Jakes hands flew to his face as he fell to the floor with a load groan and everyone could see the blood dripping down his neck and seeping into his shirt. All of a sudden, it was like someone had cut the strings that had been holding Ness in place and she ran to the sink to get a rag. She ran to Jake's side with it, "here," she said as she tried to hold it up to his face. Jake just moved his head to the side and pushed her away with his elbow.

At the same time Ness was trying to help, Claire was screaming at Quil for punching Jacob and Quil was yelling back, "Damn right I punch the son of a bitch, and if I ever hear him talk to you like that again I'll do even more damage to his pretty face. Do you hear me down there Black?" He asked while looking over the shoulder of his pregnant wife who had pushed her way to stand in front of him after the first punch had been thrown.

Rachel had gone into action as well, she grabbed the rag that Ness had and slapped Jakes hands out of the way. "Will you move your hands and stop being such a baby for crying out loud! And tilt your head back, we need to get the bleeding to stop." She said as she pressed the rag to his face. "Ness, in the pantry is some sandwich bags, please get one and fill it with some ice so we can put that on his nose once the bleeding slows."

Ness ran to the pantry to do as she'd been told as Rachel continued to give orders. "Okay Jake, I'm gonna need you to stand. I know you're not gonna like this, but we have to take you to the doctor to get your nose checked out."

Not really able to speak, Jake just grumbled. "I don't wanna hear it, we're going," Rachel demanded while helping Jake stand. "And you," she looked at Quil, "I know you feel justified punching him after what he said…hell, he was being such a jackass even I felt like decking him…but did you have to do it so hard?" And for the first time since he'd entered the kitchen, Quil began to look sorry.

Once he was up to his feet, Jake lowered his head slightly and looked towards Quil. He didn't try to say anything; he just extended his arm and placed his hand on Quil's shoulder and let it stay there for a moment.

Quil didn't say anything either. When he'd entered the kitchen and heard Jake talking to his wife that way, he'd lost it. Only now that the haze had cleared did he realize that he'd over-reacted. It had been clear to everyone that Jake had been going through some stuff lately. Quil just hadn't realized how much it'd been affecting him until now. He knew under normal circumstances, Jake never would have acted that way. He nodded his head at Jake, accepting the apology that he was offering, and he knew they'd both forgiven each other.

As he dropped his hand and tilted his head back further, a pain shot up the right side of Jake's face that was so powerful, he had to squeeze his eyes shut. Just then, he felt something cold being placed on his face and he knew Ness had gotten the ice.

"Okay Jake," Rachel began, "We're gonna walk slowly to the front door, I'll lead you. Quil, can you please explain to everybody that there's been a mishap and the dinner's gonna have to be postponed?"

"Sure Rach," Quil followed as she began leading Jake out of the kitchen.

After they had all left the kitchen, Claire turned in Ness' direction and waddled her way to her side. "Not exactly the kind of fun I was hoping for tonight," she said raising her eyebrows.

"I'm so sorry Claire-" Ness began but was cut off.

"Oh shush, what do you have to be sorry for? You didn't do anything wrong," Claire stated.

"But I did, don't you see," Ness began, "It's all my fault, he wouldn't be like this if it weren't for me. I'm here a week and he's yelling at you and his sister and getting punched out by his best friend. I never should have come back."

Claire reached out and lifted Ness' head with her hand, forcing Ness to look at her. "Don't say that. It is clear as day that that man cares about you. He wouldn't be acting this way if he didn't. All men act stupid over love."

Ness wanted to believe her, but she just didn't know anymore. She felt Claire start wiping her cheeks and she could tell they were wet. She hadn't realized until then that she was crying.

**A/N: There it is, hope you liked it. Really anxious to see what you guys think about this one. Thanks for being patient with my updating schedule – reviews get a special preview of the next chapter.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Wow, I know it's been a while and I am so sorry. For any of you that actually read these notes and care, I do actually have a good reason for the delay of this chapter. First off, I'm getting married in four months, and 6 weeks and my dog got sick and had to have surgery. So all in all, the past month and a half has been crazy for me. But I did read and cherish every review and I never forgot about DLMG. I promise I will finish this story. With that said, here's the latest chapter…my longest one yet because you all deserve it. Enjoy!**

…

An hour later, Jake and Rachel were sitting in the emergency room waiting for a doctor to check out Jake's nose. The bleeding had finally stopped but he could feel that it was swollen.

Rachel had barely said more than two words to him since they'd arrived and he knew he was in the dog house. Unable to take the silence anymore, Jake decided to speak up, "Okay, just spit it out already."

Rachel clicked her tongue and slowly turned her head to the right to look her brother in the eye, "Believe me, you do not want to hear what I have to say."

Jake sighed heavily, "C'mon Rach. You can say anything; I promise I won't fly off the handle again."

Rachel continued to stare at him for a moment as she collected her thoughts. She'd had a running dialogue playing in her head for the past hour of everything she wanted to say to Jake, but she wanted to start carefully. "You know Jake; ever since mom died I've looked out for you. I've defended and stood up for you and I've always been proud of you. I liked to think that I was part of the reason you turned out so good…." She paused for a moment before continuing, "but tonight, I didn't even recognize you."

Jake turned his head away from his sister's direction and tilted it back to rest against the sterile white wall behind him. More than anything, Jake loved his family, and hearing his sister's words hurt him. "I'm sorry Rachel, I hate disappointing you. It's just, Ness…when I get around her, I lose it…I can't control myself. "

"Clearly," Rachel responded derisively.

Jacob ignored her mocking tone and continued, "I know I acted like an ass, but you don't know what she did Rach…"

Before he could finish, Rachel cut him off as she spoke, "actually, I do. Claire told me."

Hearing this, he turned to face his sister once more. He tried to control his emotions, but he couldn't deny that it hurt. His own sister had known how Ness had lied to him; basically used him; and still she'd acted as if it didn't matter, "How…"

Seeing Jakes reaction to her words play out on his face, Rachel jumped in and cut him off again, "Jake, I know she hurt you. And I'm not saying what she did was right, but she doesn't deserve to be crucified for it. She made a mistake, and honestly, you don't know all the details. You heard what you deemed sufficient and nothing else mattered."

Rachel reached out her left hand and placed it on Jake's arm as she continued, "She was scared and confused, and instead of facing her problems she ran from them…and that's something I know a lot about. After high school I did the same thing; I couldn't get out of here fast enough. I loved you and dad, but you and this place reminded me too much of mom. I hurt every day and I thought the only way I could ever be happy was if I were far away from here. But being away didn't help. It wasn't until I came back and faced my past that I could finally move on. I know her situation isn't exactly the same, but it's similar. She was scared and just needed the right incentive to actually face her problems. I do agree that she should have been honest with you, but there's nothing you can do to change it now. And if you continue to be this bitter, angry person, it's gonna consume you…and I don't want that for my brother."

Jake listened closely to every word his sister spoke, and he could feel how much she believed what she'd said.

"All I'm saying is that you've been carrying all this anger around for too long. You're hurt and pissed off and it's affecting your relationships with every other person you know. If you just let that anger go, you'd be so much happier. You don't have to be with her, but if you don't get passed this it'll ruin you."

Jake wanted to respond, but before he had the chance his name was called. He got up from the too small chair he'd been sitting in and followed the nurse through the double doors as he thought about everything his sister had said.

…

Jake spent the rest of his weekend contemplating all that had happened over the past six months. His sister had been right, he didn't recognize himself either and he didn't like it. He knew it was time to put it all behind him so he could move on.

By the time Monday morning rolled around, Jake felt surprisingly optimistic. It was a rainy morning so he drove his truck to work instead of taking the bike and he saw Ness' car already in the lot when he pulled up. After unlocking and opening the doors to the bays, he walked into the office to get a cup of coffee.

He felt bad about what had happened Saturday night and he didn't know what kind of reaction he'd get from Ness. But when he finally caught a glimpse of her he was surprised to see how red and swollen her eyes looked. Their eyes locked for only a second before she quickly turned away and faced the computer.

He made his way to the coffee pot in the back corner of the office, kicking himself as he went. It was obvious that she'd been crying and he felt like even more of an ass than he already had. He quickly decided that if he was going to start acting like a mature adult, now would be a pretty good time. With his mind made up, he cleared his throat and started to speak as he poured himself a cup of coffee, "Good morning Ness."

Ness couldn't believe what she'd heard. She turned slowly and looked over to where Jake was standing with his back facing her. She'd spent the rest of her weekend home, crying on and off, getting only a handful of hours of sleep. She knew she looked horrible and she felt like crawling under a rock. "Hi," she whispered back.

Ness kept her eyes on Jake and she noticed the slight tensing of his muscles when she spoke. She continued to watch as he raised the white, Styrofoam coffee cup to his lips and took a sip as he turned slightly in her direction. He looked at the coffee pot and nodded towards it as he spoke again, "thanks for making the coffee."

All Ness could do was nod in response, her throat was closed too tight to speak.

Jake just stood looking at the coffee pot for another second before he turned away and hurriedly walked back out to the garage.

As soon as he was gone Ness took in a deep breath, not realizing beforehand that she'd been holding it. Her hands were shaking and her heart was beating a mile a minute. They'd exchanged less than 10 words, but they were words spoken without any anger or hurt lacing them. It wasn't much, but it was a start.

…

Later that evening, Jake drove to his sister's house. He'd been busy the remainder of the day and hadn't stepped foot in the office again. But he told himself it was only because of how busy they'd been at the shop, not because he was avoiding Ness.

But deep down, where he was honest with himself, he knew that was a lie. It had been six months since he'd had a civil conversation with her and it was hard for him to jump back into it. It had also been extremely hard for him to see how upset she was. He'd been angry for so long that he'd forgotten why he'd been hurt in the first place; because he cared.

Now that he wasn't letting the anger control him anymore, it was easy to remember. But he just wasn't ready to jump into a friendship with Ness.

As soon as he'd closed up the shop he'd gotten in his truck to head to his sister's house. He knew he needed to apologize and wanted her to know that he was ready to put it all behind him.

He pulled up into the gravel drive of Rachel and Paul's house and killed the engine on his truck. He felt something crash into his legs as he stepped out and he looked down to see his nephew Taylan looking up at him with a huge smile plastered on his face.

"Hey Uncle Jake, guess what? Dad and Uncle Jarrod built a tree house for me and I'm gonna have a sleep over in it this weekend. Mom said you have a sleeping bag so you'll come, right?"

Jake leaned down and scooped Taylan up, lifting him above his head as he spun in a circle, "Sure Midget, I think I can squeeze a sleepover in," he said as Taylan squealed in excitement from above.

After more than a few spins, Jake stopped and lowered him to the ground, holding on until Taylan got his balance back. "You good?"

"Yeah," Taylan replied as he laughed. "That was fast."

"I know, but you're getting' bigger…I figured you could handle it. Pretty soon I won't be able to call you Midget anymore," Jake stated as they walked towards the house.

"Yeah, dad says I'm getting' tall too…I think I'll be taller than him when we're the same age."

Jake laughed at that, his nephews logic never failed to amuse him, "I'm sure you will be midge."

Once they reached the living room, Taylan took Jakes hand and pulled as he asked, "Hey, you wanna come to my room and play my new video game with me?"

"Sure thing, I just gotta go talk to your mom for a minute and then I'll be there, okay?"

Taylan eagerly nodded his head and turned to run off. "Okay, I'll get it set up," he shouted over his shoulder as he ran towards his room.

Knowing he only had a finite amount of time before Taylan would come looking for him; Jake made a B-line to the kitchen in search of his sister. He found her standing in front of the sink washing some dishes. There was music coming from the phone lying on the table and he knew she hadn't heard him approach so he spoke up, "Hey sis, what's for dinner?"

He could tell he'd startled her by the way she jumped slightly and he chuckled to himself as she turned off the water and faced him. "Jake, you scared me…I wasn't expecting you to drop by."

"Yeah, I know, sorry…didn't mean to startle you," he said with a contrite smile.

"It's okay little brother, what's up?" She asked.

"Well…I just – I wanted to apologize for the other night."

Rachel placed the damp dish towel down on the counter and walked towards the small round table in the center of the room, taking a seat once she reached it. "Eh, it's okay. I know you had your reasons…you've already been forgiven," she replied.

Rachel nodded to the empty seat across from her and Jacob made his way over to it. As he sat down he spoke again, "Thanks Rach. I just wanted to make sure you knew I was sorry and that I'm gonna start taking your advice."

"You mean you're gonna start acting like a big boy?" she asked with a raised eyebrow for emphasis.

Jake laughed out loud at his sister's choice of words, "Yeah, I think I just might."

Rachel smiled at her brother, it made her happy to hear him laugh and she could tell just by looking at him that he meant what he said, he seemed lighter. "Good, I've missed my brother these past few months."

"I know, I've missed you too," he said, returning her smile. "But, that's not the only reason I came over. I, - I need some advice."

"About what bro?"

"Ness…I mean, I spoke to her today." Jake replied. He hadn't planned on bringing this up, but now that he was talking to his sister and putting the past six months into perspective, there was so much he felt he needed to say.

Rachel kept her expressions controlled, but she had been expecting this. From the moment she'd met and seen Ness with her brother, she'd known that he was falling hard. Once Claire told her about what went down between the two of them, his behavior over the past few months made sense. And although he'd been hurt, Rachel knew you just couldn't turn off the type of feelings Jake had for Ness. She knew it would only be a matter of time before Jake would forgive her. And that was why Rachel hadn't held a grudge, why she hadn't turned Ness away. She didn't want there to be any hard feelings between the two of them once Ness and Jake were together again. "And…" she said, prompting her brother to continue.

"And…I don't know. I – I could barely think of anything to say. I told her thanks for making coffee. Then I went out to the garage and avoided her for the rest of the day."

"Okayyy," Rachel said, dragging out the "y" and making it sound like a question.

Jake sighed and put his head in his hands as he spoke. "I was nervous; it was like I didn't know what to say or how to act."

Rachel had a feeling her brother wouldn't like what she had to say next, but she went for it anyway. "Jake, why do you think you felt that way? Why do you think you've been acting the way you've been for the past six months? Are you really that obtuse?"

Jake swallowed hard before he spoke, "I know what you're getting at Rachel. I'm not a complete moron, even if I have been acting like one. I have feelings for Ness, I know that. It's just not that easy; I can't just forget the past six months and act like nothing ever happened…like she didn't lie. I don't know how to be with her again, how to even trust her."

"Jacob, I'm not saying you should forget it. But it is possible to remember everything that happened and still forgive her…be with her…be happy with her. If that's what you want. I'm not saying it'll be easy, or that it even has to happen right away. You're just starting to recover. Take some time and figure out what it is you really want. But after you do, if it is Ness, don't let the past hold you back."

Jake heard what his sister was saying, but he didn't know if he believed it. Could it really be that simple? Could he just forgive her? Could they be happy again? He wasn't sure, but he couldn't dent that a small part of him was willing to try.

…..

Ness woke up early the next morning. For the first time since starting at the garage, she was excited about going to work. She showered and afterwards, took her time picking out an outfit and doing her hair; she even applied a light touch of make-up, which she hadn't worn in months.

As she made her way to the shop later that morning, she couldn't shake the butterflies in her stomach. _Calm down, just because he spoke to you yesterday doesn't mean he's going to today_, she chided herself. But her hopes were already through the roof, and she was excited and scared at the same time.

As usual, she was the first one to arrive. Once inside the office she set about her morning tasks, starting up the ancient computer, making coffee, and pulling up the scheduled appointments for the day; there were only two, which meant it would be a slow day.

Fifteen minutes after she'd arrived she heard the roar of Jacobs's bike as he approached the shop and she felt her stomach drop to her knees. _Pull it together Renesmee._

Not more than two minutes later she heard the door to the office open and she immediately turned to face it, and him.

He stood ten feet from her in a black t-shirt, a pair of low-slung jeans, and black steel toed boots; he hadn't yet put his coveralls on. It had been so long since she'd had the chance to really look at him and she was transfixed, unable to pull her eyes away. She was so preoccupied while she starred that she completely missed the fact that he was starring as well. Until their eyes met that is.

Jake smiled sheepishly and she felt her cheeks heat up as she blushed and quickly turned away.

"Morning," she heard him say over her shoulder.

Ness took a second to compose herself before responding, "Good morning." She wasn't brave enough to offer anything more than the simple greeting.

She sat at her desk, trying to focus on pulling up the shop's spreadsheets, but she was having difficulty dragging her attention away from Jake. It was as if her entire body was attuned to his. She listened to his footsteps as he made his way to the coffee pot and poured himself a cup. From her position, she could slightly make out his profile in the reflection from her computer screen as well. She expected him to take a sip and then walk back out to the garage. But instead of turning towards the door, he turned towards her, and then he made his way over to her desk.

Three long strides, that's all it took before Jacob was standing beside her desk and she had absolutely no time to freak out. Instead, she tried to stay calm as he stood, tall and strong, less than a foot from her.

"So," he started, "what's on the books for today?" Ness couldn't detect even an ounce of his former anger in his tone; all that remained was a deep, smooth texture and Ness hadn't realized how much she'd missed hearing it until that moment.

"Um, just two scheduled appointments, and one of them is an oil change," she replied.

Jake slowly nodded his head as he reviewed the two service worksheets on her desk before speaking, "Those won't take long at all. Looks like it's gonna be a slow day for us."

_Us,_ the word rang through Ness' mind after he'd said it, and it continued for hours, long after he'd left her side to head out to the garage. It had been so long since he'd referred to the two of them as _Us. _Even if it wasn't said in the context she'd hoped for, it had still been nice to hear.

…

As the rest of the week and the one following went by, the situation between Jake and Ness remained much the same. Each morning they greeted each other and spoke of items pertaining to the shop. Jacob was friendly and smiled often, but Ness could sense that he was still guarded. They ate lunch separately and each evening he would wish her a nice night before driving off. He kept things strictly professional, and it was driving Ness crazy.

She knew she shouldn't expect miracles, and Claire constantly reassured her that they were on the right track. But each day that passed with them going their separate ways tore at her fragile heart.

She was thankful that Jake had moved past his anger, but she longed for him. She missed his gentle words, his soft caresses, and his sweet kisses. Although she'd thought of Jake often during their time apart, she hadn't let herself think about their one night together. But now that she was back, seeing him almost daily, it consumed her mind.

A week and a half had gone by since he'd first started speaking to her again and she didn't know how much longer she could take the polite professionalism he was offering. Something had to change, fast.

…

Jake was under the hood of the '96 Acura Integra he'd been working on for the past two days. He was trying to focus on the car to keep his mind from straying to other things; but it was difficult and he found himself slipping often.

He was just starting to check out the hydraulic system when he slipped again, her laugh rang through his head and he could see her face in his mind's eye and how her laughter made the corners of her eyes crinkle. It had been months since he'd made her laugh and a part of him was desperate for it.

Although he'd been courteous to her over the past week and a half, something was holding him back from taking it further. Some deeply seeded sense of self-preservation was stopping him, afraid of the what-ifs, of getting hurt again. And he just didn't know how to overcome it.

But he knew if he continued down this path, he'd slowly drive himself crazy. Every morning when he entered the office, the scent of strawberries assaulted him; that scent stayed with him the rest of the day and hours after leaving the shop at night. Looking at her was something else entirely and if he stared too long, he'd start to feel that same electrical current building between them.

There was something between them, it was undeniable and he was growing weary of fighting it. But he didn't know how to make the transition. All he knew was that something had to change, fast.

…

Later that afternoon, Ness made a decision. She was tired of waiting by the sidelines for Jake to make a move and she was tired of being afraid of setting off his anger. She knew what she wanted and if she had any hope of getting it, she'd have to go after it.

Her mind made up, Ness got up from her chair in the office and walked out to the garage. She hardly ever ventured out there, it was Jake's domain and she was okay with that. But she knew if she didn't go to him, he wasn't going to come to her.

She spotted his legs sprawled out from under the car that had been brought in that morning and she approached carefully, not wanting to trip in her wedge sandals. When she reached the side of the car she stopped and cleared her throat before calling his name.

Jake hadn't heard her approach over the music coming from the small radio on the workbench to his left, but he heard his name. Ness typically didn't interrupt him during that day so he had no idea what she could want.

He wheeled himself out from under the car and looked in her direction. He was still flat on his back on the creeper and his eyes had quite a ways to travel before finding hers, but he didn't mind the journey in the least.

She looked good, standing there in jeans and a tight fitting, red sweater, and Jake felt his throat go dry as his eyes met hers. There was a look in her eyes that he didn't recognize and for a moment, he felt self-conscious.

He slowly sat up as he began to speak, "Hey Ness, what's up?"

She smiled and his eyes locked on her mouth as she spoke, "I was just gonna head out and pick up something for lunch and thought I'd ask if you wanted anything."

Her lips were perfectly pink and full and he remembered with shocking clarity what they felt like pressed against his. He considered her question and thought to himself_, there's something I want, but it's not food._

Jake mentally shook himself, trying to concentrate, but it was hard, both figuratively and literally. These feelings had been sneaking up on him more and more lately, but he was afraid of what they would lead to. So he'd brush them off using the fact that he hadn't been with a woman in over six months as an excuse. He rationalized it, telling himself that just about any woman would turn him on right now. But the sexual tension winding its way through his body was slowly driving him crazy.

He shook himself again before he was able to answer, "Um, no thanks, I'm good."

He started to lay back down, desperately wanting to disappear back under the car and get himself under control, but she stopped him by placing a hand on his shoulder. Immediately he felt the electric current build and Ness quickly dropped her hand.

She smiled nervously and didn't try to touch him again as she spoke, "C'mon Jake, just one lunch…please?"

That was all it took for Jake to give in.

…

Twenty minutes later, Ness returned to the shop with two sandwiches from the diner for her and Jake's lunch. She was pleased, it had taken some convincing, but Jacob had grudgingly agreed to have lunch with her in the end.

She placed the sandwiches on the small, round table in the back room of the shop. Just as she pulled two bottles of water from the fridge, she heard footsteps getting closer and she turned, just in time to see Jake walk through the door.

He smiled at her as he raised his hand and ran it through his disheveled hair. Ness nodded back and turned to take a seat at the table. After a moment, Jake approached and took the seat across from her.

"Thanks for uh…this," Jake said as he unwrapped his sandwich and set it on the paper plate Ness had set out.

"You're welcome. I mean, we both have to eat, right?"

"Yeah," Jake said, letting out a short laugh.

Neither of them said anything more for a long while after that, choosing to eat in silence instead. Ness concentrated on her lunch, completely content to be sitting in silence with Jacob.

Jake on the other hand was on edge, he wasn't sure what to say or do. He tried to focus on his lunch, but he couldn't help sneaking glances at Ness every-so-often.

He thought he was being covert, but Ness knew. She could feel his eyes on her every time he looked her way. She felt her body respond to each look, coiling tightly in anticipation. _He can look all he wants, _she thought.

That thought made her blush and although her head was tilted down, Jake noticed, and he remembered how much he'd liked her blushes in the past.

It had been months since he'd been this close to Ness for an extended period of time and he felt as if his body's reaction was automatic; as if he had no control.

But as he considered that, he realized that it didn't bother him anymore. He was simply tired of fighting and denying himself.

At that moment, Jake made the decision to just let things happen. He didn't know what the future would bring, but for the first time in months, he felt like he was on the right track.

…

The rest of the day flew by in a blur for Ness, she was riding high from her lunch with Jake and she didn't know when she'd come down; and that was just fine with her.

At five o'clock, it was time to shut down for the day and head home. She went about the office, straightening up after she'd shut her computer down. Once everything was in its place, she switched the lights off, headed out the door and locked up.

Jake was just locking up the bay doors at the same time and after they were secured, he made his way over to Ness.

"Headin' home?" He asked as he approached.

His question made Ness smile, typically at the end of the day Jake just gave a curt nod and wished her a good night, so it took her a moment to answer. "Um…yeah. I've got a date with the DVR,"

She'd meant it as a joke, but when she'd said the word date, she'd noticed the way Jake's eyes had widened and she mentally kicked herself. Clearly it was too soon to make those sorts of jokes.

But once Jake understood, he let out an awkward laugh. "Well, sounds like a full night."

Ness just gave a short nod in response as they both turned and started towards their vehicles.

Ness reached her car, unlocked her door, and got in. Before she started it up, she looked back over towards Jake. He was standing by his bike, helmet in hand, looking back at her.

She waved and he smiled back before getting on his bike. Ness gave herself a moment to reflect on the day, it had been unbelievable and she felt like so much progress had been made. All-in-all it was a great day.

She smiled to herself one last time before she attempted to start her car…and failed. She heard the engine crank, but it didn't turn over. She stopped, gave it a second, tried again, and got the same result. "Shit," she exclaimed out load as she hit the steering wheel.

She was just thinking of what she should do when a knock on her window startled her. She looked to her left to see Jacob standing by her car door, and all of her frustrations melted away.

Ness grabbed her purse, opened her door, and exited the car.

Standing beside Jake, she looked up to find him smiling down at her, "car trouble?"

"Yeah," she replied, unintentionally pouting. "I don't know what's wrong. It was fine this morning."

The car was a white Mitsubishi Lancer, Jake wasn't sure what year but it certainly looked like it had seen better days. "Well, lucky for you, you got stranded with a mechanic huh?" Jake asked giving her a wink.

"Pop the hood and I'll take a look," he said as he began removing his jacket.

Ness nodded and opened the front door so she could pop the hood for Jake, but just as she bent to reach the lever she felt rain drops on her neck.

Standing back up quickly, Ness looked towards the sky and felt the drops hit her face just as Jake spoke,  
"well shit, wasn't expecting that."

He quickly put his jacket back on as he spoke again, "Looks like we may have to leave your car here tonight, I can give you a ride home."

Ness started to respond, but she quickly remembered that a ride with Jake meant riding on his bike…in the rain.

She looked up at him hesitantly, she knew her car wasn't going anywhere, but she was worried. "Is it safe?"

Jake scoffed, "Safe? Of course it's safe. You've ridden on it before."

"No, I mean, because of the rain," she responded.

"Sure it's safe. The rain drops might sting a little, but it's not raining hard enough to make it dangerous. But if we wait around, I don't know how much longer that'll be the case."

Ness took another second to contemplate, biting her bottom lip before responding, "Okay, I guess I don't have any other options."

"Ness, look at me," Jake implored and she did as he said, looking up into his dark eyes. "I promise to keep you safe, okay?"

He was staring down at her so intently and all Ness could do was nod.

Within five minutes she was sitting astride Jake's bike, holding onto him for dear life as he sped down the road.

Although she was scarred, her close proximity to Jake was making the ride a lot easier. With her arms wrapped around his waist and her head tucked into his shoulder, she felt safer than she had in months and that knowledge made her squeeze a little tighter.

Jake felt her hold tighten and it caused his pulse to quicken as he drove the familiar path to her house. Over the past few months, he'd avoided this area like the plague because of the memories it stirred. But with Ness wrapped tight around him, the memories didn't sting this time.

Her close proximity was making it hard to concentrate on the road though. Her arms were wrapped tightly around his waist and he could feel her breasts pressing against his back. It took everything Jake had to stay focused.

Thankfully the drive was short and within ten minutes they were turning onto the path that led to the old white house.

Once they reached the driveway, Jake got as close as he could to the front door. The rain had stayed light, but one glance towards the sky told him that wasn't going to last long.

As soon as they came to a stop, Jake steadied the bike and dropped the kickstand. He straightened up and felt Ness remove her arms from his waist as she prepared to get off. She went slowly, her right hand holding onto his shoulder for support. But it wasn't slow enough for Jake and all too quickly her hold was gone.

Still sitting on the bike, his eyes were level with hers and he looked directly into them as he spoke, "See, I told you I'd keep ya safe."

Her answering smile was wide and reached her eyes, lighting up her entire face and Jacob was overwhelmed in that instant with the need to kiss her.

His eyes traveled to her mouth as he involuntarily licked his lips in anticipation. It was almost too much for him to take and he felt as if he'd go mad if he didn't touch her.

_Just do it_, he told himself. And he was going to, until he saw Ness wave her hand in front of his face.

Jake snapped his eyes back up to hers and all of a sudden, he could think again.

"Are you okay Jake? I said your name twice…" Ness starred back at him, a worried expression on her face.

He couldn't explain what had happened, it was as if a fog had settled around him and all he could do, all he could focus on was Ness, "Yeah, um, sorry about that…I just got…distracted."

"Oookaaay, well, I was just asking if you wanted to come in for a sec?"

Jake hesitated for a moment before answering. A part of him, a big part, wanted nothing more than to come in. But another part, the rational part, realized that he couldn't control himself around her. It was like he had gone from one extreme to the other and back again. First, he couldn't control his desire, then he couldn't control his anger, and now he was back to not being able to control his desire again.

He didn't know what it was about Ness that made him lose it, but he knew he wasn't ready to give in. They had jumped in so quickly the last time, too quickly…without even knowing each other. Jake wasn't about to make the same mistake twice.

With that in mind, he had his answer, "I'd like to…but I really have to get home. Billy's expecting me…it's uh – my night to pick up dinner."

Once the words were out, he could tell they hadn't been what Ness had wanted to hear, but he knew it was for the best.

"Okay, sure. Thanks for the ride," she said as she turned to walk up the front steps.

But before she'd taken the first step Jake spoke again, "No problem, I'll be back first thing in the morning."

Ness turned around quickly, a puzzled look in her eyes.

"Your car…at the shop…remember? I can't let you walk to work, can I?"

"Oh yeah," she replied, "I just…forgot for a second. A ride would be great."

Jake gave a short nod in agreement and watched as Ness turned away again and made her way up the front porch steps. And he kept watching as she unlocked and opened the door. Before she disappeared inside, she turned one last time and gave a small wave, and then she was gone.

…

The following afternoon, Ness sat at her desk inputting a supply order to their distributor in Seattle. It was slow for a Friday and she'd been counting down the minutes for the past hour. She was waiting for noon, for lunch time, so she could go out to the garage and talk to Jake without feeling guilty for slacking off at work.

That morning, Jake had shown up at her house just as he'd said he would the night before. But what made it all the more perfect for Ness was the fact the he'd driven his truck, even though the rain had passed early the night before.

The ride to the shop had been pleasant. Jake asked about her night and she about his. It had lasted only a short ten minutes before they'd reached the shop and Ness was forced to stay inside the small office, so close yet so far from Jake.

But lunch time was all hers, she could go out to the garage and spend the next half hour with him. And she wouldn't even have to make up an excuse as to why she was out there because it was her car he was currently working on.

The only other time she'd seen him that morning was when he'd come into the shop to let her know he was going to start working on it. She'd tried to protest, saying he should focus on the customers first, but he'd let her know that the other cars he'd been working on were done, and she couldn't argue anymore.

Just as she finished inputting the last of the supplies and emailed the request to her contact, the little clock in the bottom right corner of her computer screen showed 12:00, _finally,_ she thought exasperatedly.

She quickly stood up and walked to the back room where she grabbed two bottles of water from the fridge before making her way out to the garage.

She stepped out and her eyes immediately sought out Jake, and found him bent over at the waist, inspecting something under the hood of her car.

He was standing with his legs slightly apart; his blue coveralls were pulled only half way up his long body, the top portion hanging down from his waist.

She approached slowly, setting the bottles of water on the workbench and taking him in as she did. When she reached the side of the car and was within his sight, she spoke, "How's it lookin?"

Jake had heard the door to the shop open and close and the sound of her footsteps as she approached, so her voice didn't startle him as it had the day before.

He quickly finished tightening the nut he'd just fastened before he replied, "Not bad," He pulled the towel from the back pocket of his coveralls, wiping his hands clean as he rose from under the hood. "The fuel pump needed to be replaced, so I took care of that. You also needed an oil change. How long's it been since your last one?"

Ness was grateful that Jake was such a good mechanic, but it also made her embarrassed to admit her lack of knowledge when it came to pretty much all things mechanical. "Um, well…I can't say I've had one since I got the car."

Jake let out a bark of laughter at that, "Seriously? I mean, I know you're not good with cars, but I figured you'd at least know that regular oil changes are important."

His laughter and the amusement in his eyes instantly put Ness on the defensive, "Well forgive me for not living up to your expectations," she snapped back.

Her indignant tone had Jake laughing again, harder this time.

"Well I certainly didn't come out here to get teased and laughed at. I'll just leave you to it," she said as she started to turn.

But before she could walk off Jake grabbed her arm. His fingers wrapped tightly around it and Ness looked back at him as he spoke, "calm down Ness, I'm just messin' with you."

She didn't respond with words, but she gave a curt nod and with that, Jake dropped his hand.

Ness turned back towards Jake and the car and found him starring down at her. He still wore a slightly amused smile, but she didn't let it bother her. Instead, she offered a suggestion.

"Okay then, instead of making fun of my lack of knowledge, why don't you do something beneficial and show me."

Jakes expression changed from amused to questioning as he asked, "Show you what? How to do an oil change?"

"Yes Mr. all knowing car god," she replied. "Show me how to change my oil."

Jake offered her a wry smile and said, "Okay, you're on."

…

"Dammit Ness." Jake shouted for the third time in the past ten minutes. This time because Ness pulled out the drain plug too quickly and oil began spraying everywhere.

"I'm sorry," Ness squealed as she held her hands in front of her trying to stop the offending oil from splattering all over her clothes as Jake tried to stop the spray all together.

"Okay," Jake said after another few seconds, "I got it to stop…But," he paused to wipe his face and hands with the towel from his back pocket and then looked back at Ness as he continued to speak, "I think we've both had enough for one day."

Ness tried not to let her pride get the best of her and nodded in acceptance, "Okay, I guess you're right. And my clothes are pretty much ruined. Cars just don't seem to be my thing."

Jake tried not to laugh, he really did. But Ness looked too funny standing in front of him, covered in oil, pouting. He lasted just a few seconds before he burst into hysterical laughter.

Ness wanted to be offended, but the situation really was funny. And on top of that, Jacob was laughing, really laughing. It sounded so good to her ears and she couldn't help but join in.

She laughed so hard tears came to her eyes and she quickly reached up to wipe them away.

Jake laughed until he couldn't laugh anymore and then he noticed Ness.

She stood in front of him; her eyes were still dancing with amusement; she looked beautiful. Starring at her made his throat go dry and he swallowed, trying to clear it before he spoke.

"Ness, you um…you've got some oil, um…on your cheek."

"Where?" She asked as she reached up to wipe it away. But instead of wiping it off she just smeared it.

"Here," Jake said as he took his rag and gently wiped away the oil from her cheek.

But even after it was gone he didn't drop his hand. He held it there, desperately wanting to cup her cheek in his hand, tilt her face up, and kiss her. The need was almost overpowering.

Almost…but not quite. They were both still at work and they had hours to go before the end of the day. It wouldn't be good for either of them to start something here.

With that in mind, Jake dropped his hand and took a step back. He smiled sheepishly and ran his hand through his hair as he spoke again. "We should be getting back to work. You uh – there's an extra pair of coveralls in the workbench if you want to cover up."

Ness looked down at herself for the first time and gasped, she was almost completely covered in oil. There would be no saving these clothes. Even so, she wouldn't change a second of it if she had it to do over again.

"Yeah, I guess I should put them on, in case a customer comes in or something," she said as she walked over to the workbench to retrieve the coveralls.

She quickly found them and threw them over her shoulder before heading to the door that led to the office.

Jake watched each move she made. Even covered in oil she was breathtaking. He knew they had to get back to work, and that she'd only be in the office, but it seemed so far.

Before he realized it, he was saying her name, "Ness."

He watched her stop and turn to face him again, raising her eyebrows in question.

"I uh…I just wanted to know if you were planning on coming to Rachel's for dinner tomorrow night. It's supposed to be a make-up for uh – last time."

"Claire told me about it…but I wasn't planning on going," she replied.

Her response surprised Jake, "why not?"

Ness gave a short laugh before she spoke, "do I have to remind you of the last dinner I showed up at?"

Jake winced and quickly made his way over to her side, "Ness, I was an ass last time, I wasn't thinking clearly…I'm sorry for that."

"You don't have to apolo-."

Jake didn't give Ness a chance to finish her sentence before interrupting, "Yes I do…I'm sorry…and I want you to come tomorrow. Please say you will."

He held her gaze with his, not letting her break it until she answered, "Okay, I'll come."

…

Later that night as he sat on the bed in his room, Jake contemplated the last few weeks and few days in particular. It took him a while, but he'd finally realized that everything he'd liked about Ness, everything that had attracted him to her before, was still there.

He was finally ready to take the next step.

He still thought they should take it slow, but he knew where he eventually wanted to be. They'd both be at his sisters the next night…and if things went as well as they'd been going and he felt like kissing her, he'd kiss her.

For the first time in a long time, he fell asleep thinking the next day was gonna be a great one.

…

He'd been wrong…he'd never been more wrong in his life and he felt as if he were in hell. He'd shown up at his sister's house a little later than he'd expected after spending far too long picking out an outfit. He told himself it was just because he wanted all of his friends to see he was making an effort to come out of the social comma he'd been in. But a little voice in his head kept whispering that the real reason he was trying so hard was because Ness would be there.

In addition to wearing a nice pair of jeans with no grease stains and a black, collared, button down shirt, he also put some product in his hair, which he hardly ever did. It had been a few months since he'd gotten it cut and it just wouldn't behave without the gel. Finally after over an hour of primping, he'd headed to his sister's house, more excited than he'd been in months. The feeling hadn't lasted long though; all of twelve minutes to be exact, and it was all because of one person.

When he got to Paul and Rachel's house, he'd let himself in as usual. But before he'd even gotten out a hello, he'd felt a pair of soft lips press against his and a set of arms wrap themselves around his waist. All he'd been able do was blink in surprise for a few seconds as he tried to focus. He'd known it wasn't Ness who'd wrapped herself around him, her sent and taste was unforgettable. But as the person who'd kissed him disengaged from his lips, his vision had focused and he saw two things immediately.

One, the woman who'd pressed herself against him, who'd kissed him before even saying hello, was someone he hadn't planned on seeing for a very long time, if ever again.

Two, Ness was seated on the couch opposite him, and he knew she'd seen the kiss. Jake didn't have anything to hide, and he knew he didn't owe Ness any explanations…But the sad, hopeless look on her face made his chest ache.

It was those reasons that he felt as if he were in hell.

"Hey you, long time no see." He heard the words, but they didn't make sense. He was having a hard time comprehending anything as he looked at Ness. She'd dropped her head quickly when she saw him looking at her and he noticed her brush her eyes with the back of her hand. _Is she crying?_ He thought to himself.

At that moment, he felt the arms that were wrapped around his waist grasp him tighter and he looked down slightly into the eyes of the woman in front of him. "Hello Leah," he said in a flat voice.

"Aren't you happy to see me?" Leah asked.

Jakes eyes moved between Leah and Ness. He didn't know what to do or say. He noticed for the first time that there were others in the room besides he, Leah and Ness; Jarrod and Kim, Paul, Emily and Sam and Quil to be exact. He noticed as a few of them looked back and forth between him and Leah and Ness as well, most of them looking just as trapped as he felt.

Thankfully, before he made a fool of himself, he saw Claire enter the room. "Leah," she started, "I need your help in the kitchen. I'm trying to make your famous mac and cheese balls and I can't get them to stay together."

To Jake, time felt as if it had been going by in slow motion, but in reality, the entire exchange had lasted less than a minute.

At Claire's urging for help, Jake felt Leah remove her arms from around his waist, but before following Claire into the kitchen, she gave him a very intense gaze and he knew he hadn't seen the last of her. As she turned away, Jake looked over her shoulder at Claire and gave her the most appreciative smile he could muster. He'd been horrible to Claire over the past few weeks and he felt like even more of an ass now. She'd always been a friend to him. All she wanted was for him to be happy; he saw that now.

Once Leah and Claire disappeared into the kitchen, Paul decided it was time for him to jump in and make things better, "well, that wasn't awkward at all, was it?"

No one else said anything, and Jacob gave Paul such a scathing look he didn't dare say anything else. But when he looked at Ness, he saw that she was still starring at the floor, sitting stiffly on the coach beside Emily. He made his way over to her and bent down slowly to whisper in her ear, "Can I talk to you outside please?"

He waited for her to respond and after a moment she nodded in agreement. He straightened up and Ness followed; both turning and walking towards the door in silence.

Once outside, away from the prying ears of his family and friends, Jake started speaking, "Ness, listen…I know you're probably wondering what that was all about in there…and I can explain – "

"Jacob," Ness said, cutting him off, "honestly, you don't have to. You don't owe me anything."

"I know that…I mean…I know I don't have to explain…But I want to," Jake felt more and more desperate with each word he spoke.

"Honestly Jake. I don't know what I was thinking coming here." Ness said as she let out a sigh.

Jake wasn't certain, but he had a feeling that Ness didn't just mean coming to dinner tonight, but coming back to Forks in general. "Don't say that Ness. Maybe – Maybe at first I was upset, but these last couple of weeks…I've changed, you know I have. And the other day, God Ness…the other day I wanted so bad to – "

"Please Jake," Ness said, cutting him off again, "please don't finish what you were going to say. I didn't want to come back here and upset your life. I thought…God; I don't know what I thought. I was so stupid. If you've found someone, I don't want to mess that up."

"No Ness," Jake started, "It's not like that, it's…"

At that moment Jake was interrupted again when someone screamed his name, "JAKE…"

Both Ness and Jake immediately turned towards the house as they saw Quil emerge holding Claire in his arms bridal style while everyone else followed. "What – what's going on?" Both Jake and Ness asked practically in unison.

"Her water broke. Your truck is blocking my car in, I need you to move it so we can get to the hospital man," Quil replied.

Without another word, Jake quickly ran to his truck to back it out of the drive. As Quil walked with Claire to their car, he looked towards Jake and asked, "You'll follow me to the hospital right? I can't do this without you by my side."

Claire smacked him on the side of his head at his comment and asked, "Hey, what am I? Chopped liver?"

"Of course not baby," Quil replied. "You're everything. But – I just need my best friend there."

He looked between Claire and Jake as he spoke and Jake nodded, "Of course man. I'll meet ya there," he said as he hopped into the cab of his truck.

He backed out and then put his truck in drive and floored it, not wanting to waste any time. His best friend was having a baby and he was unbelievably happy for him. As he drove, he thought back to when they were younger and he'd first realized that Claire was in love with Quil…and now they were gonna be parents. It made him contemplate his own life, and if he'd ever get the chance to experience parenthood. At that thought, Ness suddenly popped into his mind and he remembered…_Shit, I just left her standing there…FUCK!_

**A/N: I hope everyone liked it and now that you're done I just want to say this: I appreciate every review I get. I'm sorry if I didn't respond to all of the reviews that came in for the last chapter, but with everything going on, this story took a back seat. But just to show how much I do appreciate all of my reviews, for the next chapter I'm going to try and take the advice of one of my faithful reviewers and write it in Jacob's POV. I'm really excited about it. Until next time **


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: This chapter is done all in Jake's POV, hope you enjoy the look inside his head. This chapter took a little longer to get out b/c of that, I'm just not as good at writing in 1****st**** person POV and it took me a while to make sure this one was good enough. Let me know if you think I did it justice.**

…

I sat in a small chair with faded blue cushions in the corner of the small hospital room Claire had been assigned. She was laid out in the hospital bed across the room with Quil at her side. Getting to the hospital and checking in were all a blur for me. I'd been sitting quietly in the chair for the last half hour, just taking everything in. My best friend was just hours away from becoming a father. It was making me put my own life into perspective. Quil looked scarred, but at the same time, I'd never seen him so happy; I knew I wanted that.

Just then, Claire spoke up, pulling me out of my introspection, "Jake…come over here please."

I stood up slowly and made my way to her bedside. She was holding her hand out to me and I grabbed it once I reached her side, giving it what I hoped was a reassuring squeeze, "what's up Claire?"

She squeezed back, but turned towards Quil and asked, "Hunny, can you go and get me some more ice chips please?"

I watched as Quil gave her the most tender smile I'd ever seen. It seemed private and personal and part of me felt like I should turn away, but I didn't. "Sure thing baby. You need anything else?"

Claire shook her head no, "Just the ice chips please."

"You got it," Quil replied. He bent down and kissed her forehead quickly before he pulled back and left the room.

I stood there for a few seconds; I didn't say anything, just listened to the sounds coming from the heart monitor on the other side of the bed until Claire spoke, "You know I love you, right Jake?"

"Of course," I looked down at her and held her gaze with mine. "I know how shitty I've been to you and you have no idea how sorry I am about that. I was in a bad spot and I took it out on you. But I get it now, and I'm sorry."

"You don't need to say sorry, I get it…and honestly, I may have stepped over the line just a tad."

I gave her my best look of shock and teased, "You step over the line?"

She looked back at me with her big innocent eyes, "so hard to believe right?

I snorted back, "yeah."

And then her face melted, "I just want to put it behind us. Quil and I love you so much and, after all, we can't have our baby's godfather mad at us."

I starred at her for a second before I was able to speak, "You want me to be the godfather?"

"If you want the job, it's yours," she said as she nodded.

"Hell yeah I want the job," I told her.

"Good, because I didn't have a backup plan. And since you're being so agreeable…there's one more thing I want." She had that mischievous smile on her face, the one she used to have when she was little and she wanted my help doing something she shouldn't be.

"And what would that be?" I asked hesitantly.

My weary tone made her laugh. "Just be happy Jacob. That's all I want for you. Whatever it takes for you to get there, do it. Just promise me you'll be happy." Her face was serious and her eyes bored into mine.

So many different emotions hit me in that moment that made it hard to speak. Instead, I just nodded my head.

…

I was walking down the hallway a short while later, on my way to the waiting room. Claire's words were running through my head on a constant loop, but I tried to push them to the back of my mind; there was more to worry about right now.

When I reached the waiting room, I looked around and saw the faces of my friends and family. Some were sitting and quietly talking, a few were standing in the corner, and the rest had their heads down and eyes closed, resting in their seats.

When I cleared my throat they all looked my way. "Claire and Quil asked me to come down and let you guys know it's gonna be a while. So if you wanna wait it out at home, I can give you a call when it's done."

I noticed some of them glance around, waiting to see what the others would do. And then out of the corner of my eye, I saw someone approach.

I turned just in time to see my sister coming around the corner, but I was surprised to see Ness with her.

Rachel walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder, "Jake, what's going on? We've been waiting but no one's come and said anything yet."

I noticed Ness hang back, she looked unsure of herself. I wanted to go to her, talk to her, there was so much I wanted to say, but I had to finish here first. I looked down at my sister, "it's uh – gonna be a while. Claire said you guys should head home if you want. I'm gonna stick around, so I'll call you when it's time."

"Dad and Sue have the kids, so there's no rush. But if it's gonna be that long, there's no point in all of us staying and sleeping in these uncomfortable chairs all night."

"Yeah, I think it's definitely gonna be awhile," I said loud enough for everyone to hear.

Rachel nodded and turned towards the room. She had her "ready for action" look on, "Okay, so I'm gonna stay and I'm sure Jake is too. The rest of you can head home, get some rest. We'll call if anything happens."

I stood starring at my sister; I admired so much about her. The way she could take charge of a situation, her ability to get things done, and her capacity to love and care about her friends and family. She was so much like our mother. I walked up behind her and hugged her, I couldn't help myself. I had been an emotional hermit for months and now everything just seemed to be pouring out of me. She didn't make a big deal out of it, just rubbed my forearm in acknowledgement.

I held on for another few seconds before letting go as the others started to get up and gather their stuff. Just about everyone was going; Rachel, Embry, Emily, and I were going to stay.

I looked back at Ness, hoping to get a minute with her before heading back to the room, and I saw her gathering her things.

I quickly walked over to her and reached for her arm.

"Don't go," was all I could think to say.

She looked up at me hesitantly and asked, "Are you sure?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I want you to stay."

She bit her lip and I noticed her look back over my shoulder before she answered. "Okay."

I let out a breath I'd been holding and smiled down at her. It was going to be a long night, but knowing Ness would be here waiting for me made it easier.

We said our goodbyes to everyone that was leaving and I waited as they made their way out.

Once they were gone I spoke to the ones that had stayed, "I gotta go back, Quil asked me to. But they can have another person in the room. So if you guys wanna trade off, I'm sure they'd appreciate the company."

"Okay." Emily spoke up. She was Claire's aunt but there was a very big age difference between her and Claire's mother and because of that, her and Claire had grown up more as cousins than aunt and niece. "If you guys don't mind I'd like to go in first."

I heard mumbled approvals from the others, but my gaze was focused back on Ness. She smiled nervously at me and bit her bottom lip again. I wanted to stay with her, but I knew I had to go back. "You guys decide who wants to come in next when Em gets back. If we get any updates I'll let you know."

With that said I gave one last look to Ness and then turned to make my way back towards the delivery room with Emily.

We had just rounded the corner when I saw Leah heading our way. In all of the excitement I'd somehow overlooked the fact that she hadn't been in the waiting room.

As she approached, I debated running off and letting Emily deal with her. But I knew that would just piss her off, and the last thing I needed was a pissed off Leah in the same room with Ness.

"Hey Jake, Emily, what's going on?" I could see the concern on her face. Leah was a lot of things, a manipulator, a man eater, and a raging bitch…but when it came to Claire, she cared.

"It's gonna be a while. Most of the others went home for the night. The ones that wanted to wait it out are still in the waiting room. Emily and I are going in to the room. As soon as she comes out, one of you can come in"

Leah turned her focus on me. "Well, why don't you go wait it out with the others and I'll go in with Emily."

"Because," I said standing up a little straighter. "Both Claire and Quil want me there.

I knew she wasn't going to back down that easy. "Well, since I'm family, I'm sure Claire would want me with her."

I didn't have the patience or time to deal with Leah and didn't bother filtering as I normally did with her, "Seeing as you haven't really been around the last few years, I'm sure your presence won't be missed too much."

Leah glared at me, "You do not want to get on my bad side Jacob Black, I…"

At that, Emily decided to jump in and break us up, "Okay, I think we get it. Leah, why don't you go in with Jake, I'll go back to the waiting room and wait until you get back to go in."

Emily was always doing things like that, trying to keep the peace. But in Leah's case especially she always seemed to go out of her way to stay on her good side.

"Okay," Leah agreed, "that'll work."

"Just try not to stay too long, I know everyone else wants to see her too." Emily threw in.

Leah just starred her down for a second, "Okay, I can do that."

With that settled, Emily turned and headed back to the waiting room while I led the way to the delivery room Claire was set up in.

Just before we got to the door, Leah stopped and placed her hand on my arm. I looked down at it and then back up at her just as she started to speak. "Jake, you've been acting strange all night, and you didn't answer my question earlier. Aren't you glad to see me?"

She was batting her eye lashes and had a sad, wide eyed expression on her face. It was her innocent, helpless look; a look that used to have me wrapped around her finger. But that had been a long time ago.

"It's not gonna work this time Lee, give it up." I said, shaking her hand off my arm.

She gave it one more try, thrusting her lower lip out in a pathetic pout to add to the effect, "Jaaake, what are you talking about?" She paused and took a step closer, pressing herself into my side so she could whisper in my ear. "I've really missed you."

I could feel my anger start to take control and I snapped, "ENOUGH." I brushed her off and took a few steps away.

"I told you last time Leah, I'm done. It's not gonna be like it's been in the past. You had your chances, plenty of them. I've moved on. The only reason I'm here is because of Quil and Claire, otherwise I would have left when I saw you at the house."

I ran my hand through my hair, trying to calm myself. "I'm gonna go in that room, I'm gonna be there for my best friends, and I'm gonna do everything in my power to ignore you."

I paused and moved towards her. I could tell she was pissed, I'd known her well enough at one point to notice the signs, but I wanted her to really hear the last part of what I had to say. When I was close enough, I lowered my head and whispered, "And for however long you're here this time, I want you to do me a favor and pretend you don't fucking know me."

With that said, I turned and walked away.

…

An hour later, I was sitting in the same small chair in the corner of the delivery room as I'd been in earlier. After my confrontation with Leah, things had been tense in the room. She'd stayed by Claire's side, occasionally shooting me dirty looks, until she left after half an hour. Emily was in the room now, but she was just starting to say goodbye so the next person could have their turn.

Once she left the room, I made my way over to check on Claire. Quil had gone to fetch more ice chips a couple of minutes before, and I was in charge of her comfort.

"You holding up okay?" I asked as I fluffed up the pillows behind her.

"Yeah I'm doing great. I don't know why woman complain so much about labor. It's a piece of cake." She replied with a cheeky smile.

I shrugged, "well, the doctor did say you've got a long way to go and haven't had a real contraction yet. But I'll remind you of those words in a few hours."

She called me a jerk and playfully punched my arm and we both laughed.

Quil came back a few minutes later and I was about to sneak back to my chair when the door opened and Rachel popped her head in. She looked around for a second before her eyes met mine and she spoke, "Hey Jake, can I see you for a sec?"

Claire looked over and asked, "Is everything okay?"

Rachel smiled, but for some reason, it didn't have a reassuring effect on me. "Yeah, I just needed to ask Jake something. Then I'll be right in."

I nodded and made my way to the door. Once we were out in the hallway, Rachel took my arm and led me down the corridor.

"Jake, what the hell happened with you and Leah?"

I didn't know how to respond at first, but something in Rachel's eyes made me nervous. "You know Lee, how she gets when she comes back. I just told her flat out that there was no way in hell I was falling for her shit this time and walked away."

"What did you tell her about Ness?" she asked.

I shook my head, "nothing, I didn't even mention her name. Why?"

Rachel let out a sigh, "When we first got here, hell even at the house, Leah didn't pay any attention to Ness…didn't introduce herself or even ask anyone who she was. But when she got back to the waiting room, it was like she zoned right in on Ness. She looked at me and Embry and then back at Ness and asked who she was."

I started to feel a knot develop in my stomach, I didn't like the direction this story was going in, but I didn't stop her. "Ness looked like a deer caught in the headlights, so I jumped in…and I said she was here with you."

My eyes got a little bigger at that last part, "Rach…"

She cut me off, "I know…I'm sorry, I should have kept my mouth shut. But I couldn't stand looking at her standing there with this smug attitude, like she owns the fucking world…"

Now, my sister was a mom to the T, had been almost all my life, which meant there'd only been a handful of times that I'd ever actually heard her curse. So I knew she had to be pretty pissed to let one slip, especially an F-bomb.

"After everything she's put you through…" She trailed off.

"Rach, that was a long time ago. I never even think about that shit anymore," I tried to assure her.

"I know. I just couldn't hold back. I just wanted to rub something in her face, get her to see that she couldn't just snap her fingers and have you come running anymore."

I smiled down at my sister. Although I was almost a foot taller than her and probably had a good hundred pounds on her, she still felt the need to protect me…and she probably always would. "I know your intentions were good. But Rach, things with me and Ness are rocky at best. And Leah…she's a shark, she'd eat Ness alive."

I watched my sister twist her hands nervously, "I know…that's why I came to get you. When she got back to the waiting room and saw Ness, something must have clicked for her. It was like she already knew Ness was with you and as soon as I confirmed it…I could see her eyes blaze. I tried to step in; she just wouldn't listen to me."

Rachel's eyes got bigger and bigger with every word, and the knot in my stomach clenched. "Where's Ness?"

"She's gone, she ran out. I'm sure she went home."

I turned, ready to run for the exit and find Ness, but Rachel pulled on my arm. "Jake, you can't go. Quil needs you and you promised you'd stay. I didn't tell you so that you'd run after her. I told you so you'd know."

I clenched and unclenched my fists a few times, trying to stay calm, "What did Leah do?"

"You know Leah," Rachel said shaking her head, "backhanded compliments, sarcasm, innuendos, and slightly veiled threats are her MO. She didn't lay a finger on her."

Yes, I knew Leah, it wasn't her fingers I'd been worried about; her words had always been her most lethal weapon. "So she just left?"

"I tried to stop her," Rachel replied, "I followed her out and tried to talk to her, but she said she couldn't stay".

I turned back to face my sister. Over the past couple of weeks I'd learned a lot about myself. This whole growing up and acting like a man thing wasn't easy, especially now. I wanted nothing more than to run after Ness and make her listen to me. But the sensible, mature part knew that I'd made a promise to my friends and I couldn't leave until I'd fulfilled it.

I took a few minutes to calm myself down; I went to the bathroom and splashed some cold water in my face to help. Once I had it under control, I took a deep breath and walked back into the delivery room with Rachel.

…

I was flying down the road in my truck, praying any cops would be snoozing in their cruisers and not paying attention to me. I had somewhere to be and I didn't want any delays.

It was Sunday morning, just before noon. I'd been at the hospital all night and hadn't slept; but I wasn't letting that stop me.

After a few more minutes, I turned off the main road and started up the familiar drive towards the old white house. As I rounded the curved drive I saw the house and, to my relief, Ness' car parked in front.

I'd tried to call her sometime during the night but I'd just got voicemail; I hadn't bothered to leave a message. I'd had no idea what I was even going to say if she'd answered so trying to think of what to leave in a message was more than I could handle.

I parked my truck behind hers and got out. I took a minute to compose myself before I made my way up the porch steps and stopped at the front door.

I'd been going on sheer adrenaline since leaving the hospital and I hadn't really stopped to think any of this through. Now that I was finally here, I was beginning to second guess myself.

But I held it together and knocked on the door, I'd come this far and I wasn't about to chicken out.

I waited a few seconds, listening for sounds coming from the other side; there were none. I was just about to try the doorbell when I heard something and, finally, the door opened and Ness was standing in front of me.

She was wearing a pair of blue cotton shorts and a white tank top. Her hair was piled on top of her head in a messy, mass of curls and she had no make-up on. I'd never seen her look so good.

"Jake, I –"

She started to speak, but I took two steps towards her and cut her off. I couldn't help myself; once I reached her I wrapped my arms around her waist and pulled her close until her chest was flush against mine.

I looked down at her, her eyes were wide and her mouth was slightly opened. I could feel her breathing heavily, each breath she took caused her breasts to press into my chest.

"Ness," I whispered. I couldn't hold myself back; I dropped my head and captured her lips with mine.

I felt her resist for the briefest moment before her lips softened against mine and she sighed into my mouth. My lips parted and my tongue darted out to trace her mouth, begging for entrance.

She let her arms wind their way up and around my neck as she parted her lips in response. When my tongue met hers I felt jolts of electricity race over my skin.

Her tongue caressed mine as she pressed herself closer to me, but it wasn't close enough. Without breaking the kiss, I grabbed her by the thighs and lifted. She wrapped her legs around my waist as I took three steps forward and into the house. Once inside, I turned to my right and sandwiched Ness between myself and the wall. When her back hit it, I heard her moan and felt myself instantly harden in response.

In that moment reality caught up to me and I forced myself to get a grip on things and pull back.

Every part of me was screaming in protest as our lips parted. I wanted her, badly, and as I looked down into her eyes I could tell she wanted me to. But a small part of me was saying to pump the brake; that going too fast too soon was how we'd ended up where we had seven months ago.

So we stood there, starring at each other instead. I was trying to calm down but our bodies were still pressed closely together and her legs were still wrapped around my waist, making it difficult. I could tell she was having a hard time as well, her chest was heaving with each breath she took and she had a wild look in her eyes.

I couldn't manage to say anything, my brain just wasn't cooperating, and so I just stood there and starred. Almost a full minute went by before I saw her pink tongue come out and licked her full bottom lip, it made me ache to do the same.

But what did me in was when I heard her whimper. It was quiet and I nearly missed it. But she followed it up by arching her back, which caused her lower half to press into mine, and I lost it.

I attacked her, taking her full bottom lip between my teeth and alternated between sucking and licking it. Ness' legs around my waist pulled me in tighter and I was sure she could feel me between her legs; I was hard as steel.

My hands traveled up her outer thighs to her ass and I squeezed. Even though I considered myself to be a boob man, I couldn't seem to get enough of her ass. It was round and soft and fit perfectly in my hands.

At the same time, I felt Ness' hands travel up and into my hair, gripping and tugging softly. Her lips broke away from mine and she turned her head to the side, raising her chin. I felt her hands pull my head down and I got the hint. I started kissing from her jaw bone down her neck, licking and biting softly as I went.

As I licked, I felt her start to move, pressing herself against me in a constant rhythm. I was still wearing my jeans and they were starting to get uncomfortable, but I wasn't about to stop her. I could hear her breaths coming out in hard, fast little puffs, mixed with soft whimpers and moans and her hands gripped my hair tighter.

I had a feeling she was close to coming and I wanted to help her out. So I waited for her to press herself against me again and then I held her in place with my hands just long enough to grind against her for a second before releasing her.

The moan she let out when I did this was all the encouragement I needed and I kept it up, rubbing against her just a little longer each time.

I moved my lips back up her neck and over her jaw and whispered in her ear, "Come for me Ness".

She moaned loudly in response and then I heard her say my name. I pulled her to me again and kept her there as I rubbed myself against her, determined to hear her say it again.

It only took a few seconds to get what I'd wanted. Two, three, four times she shouted my name as I felt her body shake; and then she was still…

**A/N: I really enjoyed writing this chapter, hope you all liked reading it just as much. And I know I'm ending on another cliff hanger, I just love 'em. But don't worry, things are just starting to heat up for Ness and Jake and they are a long way from finished.**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Hiya…I'm back! I'm so sorry…I know it's taken forever to get this update, but things have been crazy. Between work, school, and planning my wedding – my writing was seriously suffering. Everything sounded crappy and I just couldn't focus on Jake and Ness like they deserved. So I decided to hold off on updating until after the wedding – so yes, I am now a married woman! And I love it! So now that the wedding is done and I'm back from gorgeous Hawaii (honeymoon) I will have plenty of time to write and I should be updating weekly.**

**I know this chapter isn't as long as some of you may like – but there are two reasons for that. One, I thought this is where it needed to end. I want to start the next chapter at the beginning of Ness and Jakes new stage in their relationship. Two, my creative energy was divided these past few days between this story and another idea Jake kept shouting about in my head. What does that mean you ask? Well, it's a new story of course. It's called flash and it's a Jake/Nessie story. So far the first two chapters are written and I will be updating it bi-weekly. Please check it out and let me know what you think.**

**Now – on to the good stuff! **

As Ness floated down from her high, she realized a few things. One, Jake had just taken control of her body and made her lose all of her inhibitions in the foyer of her living room. Two, Jake was still trapped between her thighs.

She raised her eyes to stare into his and saw the hunger in them. And that's when she realized item number three; only she had climaxed and Jake was very much still in need.

Ness had a brief internal battle with herself. It was clear that Jake was still consumed by his desire, and she wanted to help him as he'd helped her. But the rational side of herself urged her to get the situation under control; even if that meant Jake wouldn't get the release that she'd had.

After another moment of contemplation, the rational side won out and Ness slowly unwrapped her legs from his waist and lowered them to the floor.

Jakes body was still rigid with need. But as he felt Ness disengage herself, clarity started to take hold of his mind.

He knew he'd gotten carried away and should have had more control over his actions. But he couldn't bring himself to regret what had happened.

Nonetheless, he knew he needed to get a grip on the situation and as soon as Ness' feet touched the floor, he took a small step back to put some distance between them. Being so close to her wasn't going to help his body calm down any faster.

Ness' legs were shaky, but she leaned back against the wall for additional support when Jake stepped away. Her body immediately yearned for his warmth and strength but she knew it was the only way they'd manage to calm down.

She watched him through hooded eyes as he ran his hands through his hair and took a few deep breaths. His body seemed tense and she knew it was her fault.

The past few weeks hadn't been easy on either of them, but they'd been making progress recently which had renewed Ness' faith…until _she _showed up that is.

To make matters worse, she and Jake hadn't even had the chance to talk about what it meant or who she was to him. Ness had contemplated asking Rachel at the hospital, but she ultimately decided against it when she realized that Jake probably wouldn't like that. She'd done enough snooping and plotting behind Jake's back over the past few months. It was time for them to work through issues together and learn how to trust each other if they had any chance of making a relationship work; if that's what he even wanted.

But her confrontation with Leah had been too much, and she'd run from the hospital, embarrassed and ashamed.

Leah was beautiful, on the outside at least. And she'd managed to make Ness painfully aware of her shortcomings in comparison.

Instead of defending herself and her "relationship" with Jake, she'd rushed home, self-doubt chipping away at her psyche the entire way.

She'd ignored Jake when he'd called and had almost convinced herself to pack up and move back to Seattle by the time he'd shown up at her door.

And now they stood across from each other, neither speaking as they digested what had transpired.

Once he managed to get his body under control, Jake looked at Ness and noticed she'd been watching him, waiting for him to calm down.

He gave her a halfhearted smile and waited for some sort of response, but she just continued to stare.

He could only imagine what she must be thinking. They hadn't had a chance to talk anything out and he realized that a large portion of the blame for that fell on his shoulders.

He hadn't given her the chance to explain when she'd returned to Forks, and since then they'd just hit one roadblock after another.

But tonight and everything that had happened had strengthened his resolve and he was determined to make things right with Ness.

He wanted her, not just physically, and he was tired of getting in his own way. It was time to make things right.

The tension in the foyer was so thick you could cut it with a knife and Jake knew he had to come up with something to break the ice.

"Claire had the baby, it's a girl." He kept his eyes on Ness and he saw her smile at the news. "They named her Lennon."

"Lennon, that's different" she spoke softly.

Jake scratched the back of his head as he continued, "yeah, they kind of have this obsession with the Beatles. One of their songs was always playing in the background on their first couple of dates and when Quil proposed. So now it's like their thing. If it was a boy they were gonna name him John."

"It's pretty," Ness started, "I like unique names."

"Yeah, Renesmee's about as unique as you can get."

Ness shrugged, "Yeah, pretty much."

They were both quite again after that, neither knowing what to say or do.

Ness brought her hands together in front of her and starred down at her interlocked fingers, mentally willing herself to say something that would make everything okay, but nothing came to mind.

And after another minute, Jake decided enough was enough. "So, this is kinda awkward, huh?"

Ness let out a short, breathy laugh, "Yeah, I'm sorry. I'm not really good at this sort of thing." She dragged her eyes away from her hands to look at him and she found him starring right back at her.

Jake sighed and took a step away from the wall. "Hell Ness, I don't even know what "this sort of thing" is…so it's not like I'm any better."

Ness followed his lead and took a step away from the wall herself. "So, if neither of us knows what we're doing, how do we move forward?"

Jake took another step. "There's no road map for us to follow. We're gonna have to make up our own rules."

Ness took the final step, bringing her within arm's reach of Jake. "Who makes the first rule?"

Jake slowly reached out and touched her cheek. "I don't think that matters Ness."

She nodded. "Okay, then I have one."

Jake gave her a chance to finish but she didn't say anything else. "What is it?" He prodded.

Ness swallowed past the lump that had developed in her throat to get out what she wanted to say, "I want us to be honest."

Her voice was low, but Jake was still able to hear. A few weeks ago, this statement from Ness would have made him laugh. Actually, it probably would have pissed him off. But he was past that now, so instead he nodded. "I agree."

Ness looked down at her feet and rushed on, "It's just, I know I'm the last one who should bring this up but I just feel that we've been through so much and the last thing I want is for one of us to feel like – "

"Ness, take a breath," Jake cut her off. She was rambling and he could tell she was letting her nerves get the better of her.

He moved his hand to her chin and tilted her head back to catch her eyes. "We've both done wrong in the past. Like I said, I agree with your rule and I promise to follow it. I also have a rule of my own, okay?"

Jake moved his hand down her neck, stopping at her shoulder, and Ness was able to nod in response.

"My rule is that we leave our mistakes in the past. Whatever you did, whatever I did, it doesn't matter. I don't want that shit weighing on our shoulders anymore. I just want us to move forward."

Ness smiled, this was definitely a rule she liked. "I can agree to that."

He returned her smile and continued, "I'm tired of being angry and bitter and I'm tired of trying to live without you. I want us to work, and I'll do whatever I have to do to make that happen."

Jakes last words had really affected her. They were everything she'd been waiting to hear for seven months and now that he'd said them it was almost impossible to keep herself from crying. Her emotions were so strong that all she could do was nod in response.

"So we've got some ground rules…I think that's a pretty good place to start." Jacob moved slightly closer as he spoke and Ness had to tilt her head up further to meet his eyes. "There's really only one thing left I think we need to agree on."

"And what would that be?" Jakes eyes were so intent, so serious; Ness could feel herself begin to get nervous.

But just before a good panic could set in, he smiled. And not just any smile, it was the cocky and sexy half smile that Ness had gone too long without seeing. The smile that made her heart beat a little faster and her knees grow a little weaker.

"You and me…we're going on a _real _date."


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: Okay, here's this. It's another shorter chapter, but I think it's cute. The next chapter will be a little deeper and really start to explore Ness and Jake's relationship, so I thought it was best to stop here. Hope you enjoy.**

Claire shut the door to the nursery and motioned for Ness to follow her down the hall. They made their way into the living room and Claire flung herself onto the couch; she looked exhausted.

"Okay, so, tell me about the date plans." Even her voice sounded tired.

Claire and Lennon had come home from the hospital a few days before, but Ness hadn't had the chance to come over and see them until that afternoon.

They spent an hour just fawning over the baby. She was beautiful, the perfect combination of Quil and Claire with her big brown eyes, incredibly long lashes, and high cheekbones.

They'd just put her down for a nap and Ness missed that wonderful new baby smell already.

"Honestly I'm not really sure what the plans are; dinner most likely and after that, your guess is as good as mine. I've been so anxious at work all week waiting for tonight, and I think Jake has too. But we can talk about Jake any time; tell me all about being a mommy." Ness' voice developed a saccharine characteristic on the last few words.

Claire's response was a groan, followed by, "no, no mommy and baby talk please. I want to talk about grown up things, not diapers and bottles. Just for a few minutes please."

Ness smiled at her friend, even though her eyes were closed and she'd rested her head against the back of the couch. "Okay, well…we thought it'd be best to wait to go out until tonight, so we both have off tomorrow. After he gets off work he'll head home to change and should be at my place by 6, then I think we'll head to Port Angeles."

"What are you wearing?"

Ness moved over to the recliner in the corner and sat, "I have two options. The first is this white, knee length dress with a bubble hem. It's got spaghetti straps and black embroidered trim on the neckline."

"That sounds nice."

Ness nodded, "it is…but I can't decide if it's too dressy. That's why I have a second option. Its cotton, mid-thigh, black and white polka dot, and has a halter top. But the part I love the most is the neckline because it has this red ruffle trim, which gives it this pop of color."

"yesh hmun, nishe." Claire's words made absolutely no sense to Ness until she looked over at her friend and noticed her relaxed posture and deep breathing; she was falling asleep.

She didn't want to tell Claire she was leaving and risk waking her. So she quietly got up and made her way to the door. She stopped by the detached garage on the way to her car to let Quil know that both baby and mommy were sleeping. The all-encompassing smile he gave pulled at Ness' heart strings and made her envious of the life her friend had.

But as she drove she realized she had her own bright spots to be thankful for, which amazingly enough now included Jacob.

…

Three hours later, Ness sat in the front passenger seat of Jakes truck. They'd been driving for almost ten minutes but other than standard pleasantries, it had been quite; they were both too nervous to come up with much to say.

Thinking some music might be nice Ness asked, "Do you mind if I turn on the radio?"

Jake shook his head, "nope, put on whatever you like."

"Thanks." Ness flipped the radio on and began scanning the channels. If her time in Forks had taught her anything, it was that they had a very limited selection of radio stations.

But after a few scans Jake heard a song he liked and asked her to leave it.

Jake started nodding his head with the beat, "You know this song?"

Ness shook her head, "no, but it has a good beat. Who is it?"

"Usher. I think it came out about ten years ago. I went through this R&B phase when I was in junior high. All I listened to was Jay-Z, Kanye, Usher; shit like that."

Ness was surprised, she wouldn't have figured that. "Did you dress like a thug too?"

Jake let out a short laugh and ran his left hand through his hair, "Uh…yeah. But I think I was able to destroy all the evidence."

"Oh no…I have to see pictures."

"Sorry Ness…I couldn't let that stuff get out. It's bad enough all my friends remember it."

"Hmmm." Ness tapped her chin with her pointer finger as she thought of something.

"Hmmm what?" Jake questioned.

"Weeeell…I was just thinking…and if I know your sister, I bet she has a few of those pictures hidden away somewhere."

Jake looked over at Ness, eyes wide, and shook his head. "No way, I made sure they're all gone." And then as an afterthought, "Besides, even if she does have any, she wouldn't show 'em to anybody."

With his reaction, Ness couldn't resist teasing Jake a little more. "But I'm not just anyone Jake. And I promise I won't tell anyone else about them."

Jake smirked, "Nu-uh Ness, sorry, it aint happenin."

Ness pouted.

"That's not fair; you can't just pout and expect to get your way."

She just deepened her pout in response.

"Ah Ness, come on…that's not fa-"Ness' lip twitched and she couldn't hold back anymore. She started laughing, cutting Jake off.

He gave her a questioning look, "Were you playin' me?"

She was still laughing so she just nodded her head.

"Okay," Jake nodded, "I see how it is. You find something I'm insecure about and you make a joke out of it."

"Uh-huh."

"Nice." Jake tried to keep a straight face but it only lasted for about twenty seconds before he started laughing too.

"Sorry Jake, I couldn't resist."

Jake looked over at her, wearing the half smile that made her heart skip a beat, and all thoughts were wiped from her mind.

He looked back towards the windshield, concentrating on the road. But at the same time, he reached for her hand that was resting on the middle console and wrapped his warm fingers around hers, "I forgive you."

He didn't let go until they reached the restaurant in Port Angeles. It was a small Thai place and Ness got very excited once she saw it, she'd always wanted to try Thai food.

"Is this okay?" Jake asked.

"Yeah, it's great; I've never had Thai before."

Jake parallel parked across from the restaurant and cut off the engine.

"Just a sec," he opened his door, hoped out, and ran over to the passenger side before she could respond.

He offered Ness his hand after opening her door and she felt almost giddy. She wasn't used to seeing this side of Jake and she had to admit it was nice.

Ness placed her hand in Jakes and he helped her down, shutting the door once she was settled. From the moment he'd picked her up he'd been dying to kiss her. He'd resisted so far but standing so close made it hard.

Then the wind picked up and Jake was surrounded by Ness' sweet scent. He couldn't resist, he bent his head and gently pressed his lips to hers.

It lasted only a few seconds, but it was exactly what Jake needed. The feel of her lips on his made him feel confident, strong, needed; it was the greatest feeling.

As he pulled back he kept his eyes locked on hers and noticed the surprise, "what was that for?"

"Just something I've been wanting to do." His voice sounded raspy even to his own ears and he couldn't believe it was only from one chaste kiss. That's how strongly she affected him.

"Well, I might need a repeat performance later." Her smile was shy but he could see something else in her eyes, a spark of desire.

"I'm pretty sure that can be arranged." He quipped as he wrapped his arm around her waist and brought her close to his side to head over to the restaurant.

Dinner passed quickly. The place wasn't very busy so it was quite and the service was quick. They kept up a constant conversation; but the subject matter didn't get very deep. There seemed to be an unspoken agreement between them that they would stick to the safe subjects; friends, music, movies, places Ness had visited. But they steered clear of relationships, both past and present.

Once dinner was done and the bill was paid, Jake filled Ness in on the rest of the plans, "so, one of the reasons I picked this place was because it's close to the boardwalk. On Saturday nights a lot of local vendors set up tables. I thought we could walk over and check it out."

Ness nodded, "yeah, that sounds great."

They decided to walk over even though the wind had picked up some since the sun had set. Jake kept her close to his side, his arm wrapped around her waist, determined to keep her warm.

As they made their way to the boardwalk, Jake pointed out shops and places he liked to visit whenever he came to town. Ness found herself glancing up at him every few seconds as he spoke, alternating between his lips and his eyes. Everything about him captivated her, enthralled her, and she was helpless against the spell he cast over her.

Even when they reached the boardwalk, Ness found it hard to shift her focus from Jake to the vendors he pointed out.

Jake could feel her eyes on him every time Ness looked his way, and it was damn hard not to react. But he kept walking, only slightly tightening the hold he had on her waist.

They reached the end of the boardwalk after a few minutes and Ness noticed two older gentlemen to their right; one was playing an acoustic guitar while the other sang.

Jake didn't miss a beat. He used his arm that was wrapped around her waist to pull Ness around to face him, "Do you wanna dance?"

Ness starred up at Jake, all she could do was nod.

He moved closer, wrapping his other arm around her waist and leading her out of the main flow of traffic, closer to the performers.

Jake was a good leader, he made Ness feel secure and she couldn't help but wonder what they looked like to those passing by. Certainly more than friends. They were close, very close, and as they danced Ness could feel his hands sliding lower and lower down her back.

The wind was picking up as well, but Ness could hardly feel it surrounded as she was by Jake.

At the same time, his head was bending down, until his lips were only centimeters away from hers. "Ness," he said her name on an exhaled breath, and it was full of longing.

She tilted hers up, trying to close the distance. It seemed endless until finally her lips met his hot, soft mouth and she let out a groan.

Jakes hands involuntarily gripped Ness harder when their lips met and he heard her groan. Things were progressing even better than he had hoped; and he had high hopes indeed.

He parted his lips and let his tongue reach out to caress hers. She tasted so sweet, just as good as she always smelled, and Jake couldn't get enough.

But before he could deepen the kiss, he felt it. Then he felt it again and again; it was rain, and it was coming fast.


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: So, I know it's been a loooong while…I'm sorry for that and the only excuse I have is life. Nothin particular, just life in general. I do love this story, and I hope to finish it someday soon…but I'm not sure when because I honestly don't even know just how many more chapters are left. Jake and Ness are telling me they still have a lot to work out. I promise that the story will get finished someday. But I can't promise regular updates b/c I don't know what will happen. Anyway, hope you enjoy, I worked hard on this one.**

A strike of lightning lit up the sky, followed almost immediately by a deafening crack of thunder, and the torrential like downfall commenced.

Ness let out a shriek and Jake broke their embrace. "Follow me," he called down to her.

All around them people were scurrying, trying to find cover.

Ness nodded and took his offered hand, sticking close to his side and walking at a brisk pace. "Let's head back to the truck, I know it isn't that close, but with all these people there won't be much room in any of these store fronts, and we'd just wind up soaked anyway," he shouted.

The rain, thunder, and scattering people created a deafening cacophony that made it hard to hear, but Ness just kept close, following along with her eyes ahead, trying not to trip or bump into anyone. It took her two steps for every one of Jakes long strides, but she was somehow able to keep up.

When they finally made it back to the truck Jake stopped by the passenger's side to get Ness in and settled before heading to the driver's side. Once in he started up the car and turned the heat on full blast. The rain had come in from nearly every direction and managed to soak through all of their clothes, leaving them both in need of warmth.

Ness brought her hands close to the vents, trying to warm them. "I'm sorry I don't have any towels in here. Hopefully the heat will help. Good thing is most people stayed on the boardwalk and the streets aren't that crowded, so it shouldn't take us that long to get out to the main road."

Jake ran his hands through his soaked hair, turned the wipers up to full speed, checked his rearview mirror, both side mirrors, and pulled out into traffic. He kept the speed low and concentrated on the road ahead. Even with the wipers on full speed it was difficult to see, as soon as they wiped the rain away even more would take its place.

Then suddenly a bolt of lightning to the east struck so hard that it actually shook the truck. Jake cursed, this date definitely wasn't turning out as he'd expected.

He allowed himself a moment to glance at Ness. She sat nearly motionless, hair dripping wet, with her legs curled up under her in her seat, and he could tell she was scared.

Ness felt Jakes eyes on her and she glanced back at him. She was scared, but she hoped Jake couldn't tell. She trusted him to do whatever he had to in order to keep them safe, but this was a bad storm. Her throat was dry but she managed to swallow through the lump in order to speak, "Jake, this is bad."

Jake gave a nearly imperceptible nod and focused back on the road. "Don't worry Ness; hopefully it'll let up some once we reach the main road."

But it didn't. In fact, it just seemed to get worse the further they drove out of Port Angeles.

"Shit." The rain had picked up to a speed which made it all but impossible for Jake to see. "Ness, I'm sorry, I gotta pull over. It just isn't safe to keep going."

"Okay," her reply was a barely audible squeak.

Jake drove for just a while longer, trying to find a good place with plenty of room on the shoulder to park his truck. After another minute he flipped on the blinker and turned the wheel slightly to the right, gently easing onto the shoulder. Once he was satisfied he killed the blinker and put the truck in park.

He let out a loaded sigh and looked over at Ness. "We'll keep it running so we can keep the heat going, okay?"

She nodded but she didn't speak or look his way. "Ness, are you okay?"

She simply nodded again and Jake started to worry that she might be in some form of shock. "Ness, can you look at me baby?"

It took a minute, and Jake had to call her name again, but the slightly louder and more urgent tone he'd used must have snapped her out of her dazed state because she finally looked over in his direction.

"Are you okay?" he asked for the second time.

"Yes, I'm sorry, I'm fine, I promise," she gave a reassuring smile as confirmation which Jake returned.

"Good. I figure we'll just stay parked here, wait for this to let up some before we head out again. Sound good to you?"

"Most definitely," she nodded in agreement as well.

Jake eyed her, trying to ascertain if she was really okay, and he couldn't miss the shiver that racked her body and left her teeth chattering.

Immediately he reached out and grabbed one of her hands, her fingers felt like ice cubes. "Jesus Ness, your hand is freezing. Why didn't you say something?"

She shrugged, "I just wasn't thinking about it. I was too preoccupied with the storm to realize how cold I was."

His hand moved from hers, traveling up her arm as he spoke, "Well the heats up all the way, I'm sure it'll sink in soon enough. But why don't you come a little closer in the mean time?" He gave her arm a gentle tug as he asked.

Ness' mood lightened perceptibly and she threw back a mischievous smile, "So what, am I supposed to sit in your lap?"

"Well as much fun as that would be for me, that's not exactly what I had in mind. The middle console here lifts up and creates more room." His actions followed his words and, as he lifted the console, a middle seat, with seat belt and all, was revealed.

"How convenient." Ness couldn't help but pout slightly as she scooted towards the middle of the truck.

Jake let out a short laugh as he tucked her into his side, wrapping one arm around her, "Is that regret I hear in your voice?"

"No." She denied, looking up at him with innocent eyes.

He narrowed his own eyes as he looked down at her and new instinctively that she wasn't telling the truth.

"Liar," he challenged.

Despite the cold that had settled in her bones, Ness felt a spark ignite within her at the look Jake gave her. Although their date had taken an unexpected turn, there was no reason why they couldn't make the best of the situation and have some fun, was there?

"I'm shocked that you think I'd want to be that bold on our first real date. Honestly Mr. Black, what kind of woman do you think I am?"

Jacob let his eyes roam down Ness' supple form, now pressed snugly up against his side. He noticed that her white dress was nearly transparent in certain areas due to the rain and that moving across the seat had caused her skirt to bunch up, revealing a tantalizing amount of upper thigh.

"Well, seeing as you've already had me in your bed, I think the fact that this is our first real date as you say is irrelevant." As he spoke he let his right hand slide down her arm and onto the outside of her right thigh. Her skin was still damp, but warming up quickly.

Ness gasped as his fingertips made contact with the bare skin of her upper thighs. "Really? So just because I granted you access once means you have permission to do with me as you please?

Jake slowly trailed his fingers upward, her skirt going with him and revealing more of her smooth, creamy thighs. "I didn't hear you complaining last week in your foyer. In fact, you all but begged me. Even now, I hear you talking, but I don't hear you saying no. Admit it; you don't want me to stop, do you?"

Between his fingers moving higher and higher, and his deep voice whispering so close to her ear, Ness was finding it difficult to breath. "No."

Jake smirked. He loved the effect he was having on her but with his arm snaked around her his fingers couldn't go any further. But he didn't want their game to end yet. "Tell me what you want Ness."

She closed her eyes and groaned at his words. Things were heating up and she was powerless to stop them. Not that she would if she could. Jake had the power to do things to her that no other man ever had. She lost all inhibitions; all that was left was her need, which only he could sate. "Jake, please."

"Please what? You have to tell me Ness or I won't know what you want. If you want to sit in my lap, tell me. If you want me to lift your skirt up more, ask me. Whatever you want Ness, it's yours, just say it." His words were a promise, his voice ragged with his own desire, and he hoped that Ness continued to play along.

Ness moaned; she was completely consumed now by the fire Jake had ignited within her. All thoughts of the rain and the cold had been banished from her mind. "I want you Jake."

"Where baby, where do you want me?"

"Here, now." Jake adjusted himself, turning, leaving his back angled more towards the driver side door and his left arm free to reach for Ness and bring her closer to him.

Those two words turned Jake on more than he could say and he was willing to make good on his promise. "Have you ever had sex in a car before Ness?"

In their new positions his heated gaze was able to lock with hers, and he could see the desire flaring in her eyes. She shook her head slowly and whispered, "No, have you?"

"Yeah, but it's been a while, and never in a truck." He watched her tongue dart out lick at her bottom lip, and he wanted to do the same. "Come closer Ness."

Inching forward slowly, Ness kept her gaze locked on Jakes until their lips were mere centimeters apart, "I need you Jake."

With that last plea Jake closed the distance between them and captured her lips with his. His arms wrapped around her and brought her flush against his chest. Although still damp, their clothes had grown warm from the heat blowing through the cab and he wanted them gone.

He broke the kiss and pulled back as much as he could, but it wasn't enough. "Ness, sit back for a second baby."

She complied and watched as Jake peeled his damp shirt from his body and threw it down by his feet. "That's better, c'mere." He crooked his finger at her, beckoning, but Ness had other ideas.

Jake watched, mesmerized, as Ness reached up and slipped each spaghetti strap down her shoulders tantalizingly slowly, leaving them bare. Next she reached around to her back with both hands and Jake could hear the sound of a zipper sliding down. And then…jackpot, the front of the dress slipped down, revealing Ness' perfectly rounded, rosy tipped breasts. Her nipples already hard and standing out, begging to be licked and sucked.

"No bra?" He inquired?

Ness shook her head and Jake couldn't resist, he let his hands reach out and fondle them, tweaking her nipples and massaging in slow circles. Needing to taste what his hands were feeling, his head followed. Just as his lips closed around her right nipple, Ness moaned and her own head fell back, lost in the sensations Jacob was creating.

Jake broke free just long enough to move over to the other nipple, not wanting either to feel left out. Jake was and always had been a breasts man, and Ness' were perfect. He let his tongue circle her left nipple slowly, and then he brought the rigid peak fully into his mouth and began to alternate teasing bites with sensual sucking. He kept this up for what seemed like an eternity to Ness, causing her body to climb higher and higher. She didn't think it was possible to climax simply from nipple stimulation, but it sure felt as if she were close.

But before she could test it out, Jacob gave her nipples one last bite each and then began to trail kisses up her chest, her neck, and to her lips. "God you taste so good." He let out before claiming her lips again.

His tongue slid over her lips and they parted, allowing him access into her warm mouth. As his tongue caressed hers, he felt Ness lean towards him and then he felt a tugging in his lap. He broke the kiss to look down and realized that Ness was struggling to undue the button of his jeans.

He smirked and put his hands over hers. She looked up at him just in time to catch his heart stopping half smile before he spoke, "let me help you with that."

Ness nodded and Jake hurriedly popped the button and pulled his zipper down. He shimmied and managed to pull them down just enough to reach his hand inside and pull his hard length out. Ness gasped; it had been so long since they had been together that she had forgotten just how big Jake was. Holding himself in his massive hand didn't even come close to encompassing his full length.

She watched as he stroked himself twice, slowly, up and down, and she shivered, imagining how good it would feel when he was stroking inside of her. She was transfixed, unable to look away until Jake broke the spell by calling her name. "Ness, take your panties off."

Jake's words washed over her body, making her tingle in anticipation. Hurriedly she did as instructed, rising up on her knees and sliding her panties down her thighs. Once there she quickly changed positions and pulled them off the rest of the way, discarding them on the floorboard along with Jake's shirt.

Once removed, a low growl of appreciation escaped from Jake and Ness' eyes burned in response. Without another word he snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her towards him. Ness spread her legs, straddling Jake, and she could feel his hardness brush up against her sex. She gasped and tried to repeat the process, but Jake held her firmly and she couldn't move to brush against him. Instead, Jake flexed his hips up and his tip just barley brushed against her.

Ness moaned and her head fell back, exposing her neck to Jake. He leaned down and began placing open mouth kisses up and down her neck as he teased her a few more times. She couldn't take it, she was going to spontaneously combust. "Jake, please."

"What Ness? Tell me what you want," he prompted.

Jake flexed again and held it for a fraction of a second longer and Ness whimpered. "I want you. Inside of me." She lifted her head back up and met Jake's heated gaze, "Now."

And with that he plunged inside of her, sheathing himself in her slick heat. They both let out moans and sighs as they allowed themselves the chance to savor the feeling.

And then Jake started moving, flexing his hips up in a slow rhythm, "Fuck Ness, you feel so good baby."

"You too Jake," Ness panted in response.

Jakes hands on Ness' waist tightened and pushed her up, and she came back down just as Jake's hips were coming up, and the friction was incredible, "Oh shit, yes. Jake, don't stop,"

"Never baby, move with me." He guided her and she did, moving up and coming down in perfect rhythm with Jake, keeping pace with him easily. But when he began to move faster Ness became distracted by the sensations and lost her rhythm, crying out in approval, "yes – Jake."

He groaned in response and increased his pace again. He could feel Ness beginning to shake around him and he knew she was close. Just a few more strokes and she'd be done for. Leaning down, he placed a kiss at the base of her neck and licked his way up to her ear to whisper, "come on baby, let go."

Ness shuddered, her body tensing up in anticipation as Jake thrust again, but harder, once, twice, three times, and she was done for. Ness cried out as she came apart in a million pieces.

Jake groaned as Ness' contractions squeezed him and he couldn't hold off any longer. With a final flex of his hips he buried himself within her as he found his own release.

Her face was mere inches from his and he wanted to claim her lips, but he barely had the strength to speak let alone lift his head. But all too soon the logical side of him started to creep in, the side that realized they'd be parked on the side of a major highway for far too long and the rain had stopped quite some time ago. There was also the possibility of cops pulling up behind them at any moment, and his Ness nearly naked was not something Jake wanted seen by anyone other than him.

So regrettably, he nudged Ness and whispered, "we gotta get going baby. We need to cover up."

Ness grumbled in protest, she was comfortable and sated and all she wanted to do was sleep. But she knew they had to get back on the road.

At least they'd be home in an hour, home and in bed. Bed…

With the possibility of round two not far off, Ness crawled off of Jake, fixed her dress, and scooted back over to her side of the truck. The rest of the night was looking up.


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: I'm actually very proud of myself for updating so soon after the last chapter. I know the last chapter and this one have a lot of citrus…but there's a good reason for that. Ness and Jake have an intense connection; it's been there ever since they first met. They were only together a few days and then they spent months apart. And once they were reunited, Jake spent weeks trying to deny what he felt for her. Now that they're both on the same page they can't keep their hands off each other. They are literally screaming in my ear every time I try to write a serious scene instead of smut…it's really quite raunchy the stuff they want to do to each other ;-) Anyway, there's still some drama left for our love birds…remember Leah isn't out of the picture yet. Enjoy!**

Ness stretched out languidly on her bed, basking in the aftermath of her and Jakes love making. Once they'd arrived back at her house, they'd both known exactly where they were headed, and the path to Ness' room was now littered with their clothing.

He'd been so gentle with her at first, taking his time as he touched and kissed up and down her body. He made her feel things she'd never felt before, things she hadn't even known her body was capable of feeling. And as their need increased, so had his ferocity.

She smiled as she remembered the fierce sounding growl that had rumbled deep in his chest as he'd buried himself inside of her. Just the thought had her insides tingling in anticipation of the next time. She was insatiable.

"What are you smiling at down there?" Jake had clearly been watching her through hooded eyes as she stretched and replayed their encounter in her head, but she didn't mind.

In fact, she had the urge to tease him, just a little. She rolled back over onto her stomach; draping one arm over Jacob's chest and propping herself up on the elbow of her other. Jake was lying on his back with his head slightly propped up by two pillows, and she was certain that this new position put her breasts in direct line of sight of his eyes. This was confirmed when his eyes widened and his mouth opened the slightest bit to allow his tongue to sneak out and lick his lips.

She let a contented sigh escape her lips as she continued her little game. "Just thinking."

"Oh yeah?" his gaze hadn't left her breasts and she could see the pupils of his eyes were slightly dilated.

"Mmhmm," she purred as she started trailing her fingers slowly up and down Jake's side.

"About what?" he prompted.

Ness shifted slightly to allow the hand of her free arm to trail up Jakes chest and toward his pecs. "About you," she stopped at his left nipple, slowly tracing her fingers around and around until it hardened under her ministrations, and then she lightly pinched it between her fingers.

She heard his gasp and smiled to herself, she had him right where she'd wanted him. When he spoke next his voice was ragged and needy, "What about me?"

"Oh you know," she paused as she glided her fingers across his chest and over to his right pec. She repeated the process on his other nipple, earning another gasp from Jake when she pinched the hard nub. "Just the normal stuff."

Her hand then began to trail down, causing him to pause in the middle of his next question "Are you being - coy on purpose?"

Ness ran her fingers through the soft hairs that existed below Jakes belly button, gently tugging every so often, "Now, why would you think that?"

Jake reached out and grabbed her hand, effectively preventing her sweet torture from continuing. "Because, I think you're trying to drive me crazy on purpose woman. And if you don't stop now you're gonna be under me in thirty seconds and I'll have you begging me to take you in no time flat."

At his words everything inside Ness tightened in anticipation, and she couldn't keep the desire out of her voice as she questioned, "Promise?"

His answer was given in the form of the sexy half smile that made her knees weak, and she found out that Jake didn't make idle threats.

…

Jake woke sometime much later. He didn't know what time it was, but from what he could see through the gap in the curtains it was still very dark outside, so it couldn't have been that early.

Ness was curled up against his side, his right arm was holding her in place, and her head was resting against his chest. She looked so beautiful sleeping there and although Jake did not want to move her, nature was calling and he didn't really have a choice.

As carefully as he could he removed his arm from around her and slipped out from under her. He would only be gone for a minute and he hoped she'd still be asleep when he returned.

But as Jake finished and headed back to the bed, he realized his haste hadn't paid off, she was up. He watched her eyes follow him as he made his way back to the bed. When he got to the foot he stopped and watched as Ness' eyes raked over him. He hadn't stopped to put on any clothes on his way to the bathroom and he was surprised by how bold she was being.

After another minute she silently held her arms out, beckoning Jake back into bed, and he was powerless to resist. He crawled in and stretched out next to her. Once he was settled Ness scooted closer, once again resting her head on his chest.

They stayed like that for what seemed like hours, neither of them talking, although they both knew the other was awake. While Ness was simply enjoying being next to Jake, his mind was busy as he thought back over their night and how far they'd come in the past weeks.

If you would have told him five months ago that he'd be back in this bed with Ness beside him in the near future, he never would have believed it. But he'd begun to realize lately that some things in life were just inevitable.

Ever since he'd let go of the anger and allowed himself to open up again, there was so much more that seemed possible.

Jake wouldn't pretend that he knew how he and Ness were going to end up…but a future for them now didn't seem so unrealistic.

As Jake contemplated all of this, Ness began to sit up, capturing his gaze and giving him a slow smile. "Penny for your thoughts?" She asked.

He shrugged as best as could in his position, "there's not really that much in there Ness," he joked.

"Well, I know that's not true. You don't want to share with me?"

Jake debated whether or not he should bring it up with Ness. They'd had such a good night, he wasn't sure if he wanted to suddenly get all serious. He knew there were things they needed to talk about. But should they do it now?

As he contemplated, Ness simply waited. It had looked to her as if Jake was thinking about something important. But she wasn't about to pry. If he wanted to share with her, he would.

Jake finally came to a decision, realizing that now was just as good a time as any to discuss some of their issues. He reached out with his left arm; grasping Ness' hand in his he brought it up to his lips and gently placed two kisses on it before bringing it down to rest on his chest. "I was just thinking about how we got here, and how I didn't believe it was possible a few months ago."

He watched her for a reaction, but her usually expressive face remained mostly unchanged, so he didn't know what she was thinking about what he'd said until she spoke, "I know what you mean. Even though I hoped that you'd be able to forgive me some day, I knew how much I hurt you, and I didn't know how I was going to begin to make things better. But I knew I had to try."

Jake just nodded without commenting at first. It was hard to think about the pain he'd felt when he'd found out that Ness was married. It seemed like a lifetime ago, and eventually the anger just overtook the pain. "I know, I was just too angry to think rationally."

He noticed Ness wince slightly at his words and wished he could take them back. He wasn't trying to hurt her with his explanation. "It's okay. I meant what I said last week; I don't want us carrying our mistakes around. We have to find a way to stop punishing ourselves," he gave her hand a gentle squeeze of encouragement and she smiled in return.

"I know, I'm trying, I really am. But you have to do the same and forgive yourself for being so angry. No one's mad at you or holding a grudge, you didn't cause any long term damage. Everyone is fine and they all love you as much as ever. You're very lucky."

He knew she was right. His family was amazing. He still felt bad for how he'd treated them, but he knew that it didn't alter how or what they thought of him. They'd always be there for him. If he would have reached out to them after Ness had left, he was pretty sure they would have been there to help him recover. Instead he shut them out. He also realized that Claire and his sister had been right, he didn't know anything about Ness' situation before coming to Forks, he had no idea what it was like for her in her marriage or what happened when she first went back and asked for a divorce. But he realized that he wanted to know, "What was it like Ness, your marriage I mean?"

He could tell the question was unexpected by the look on her face, but she didn't hesitate to answer, "Well, honestly, it wasn't horrible. And I know that sounds bad, I mean, why be unhappy if you're marriage isn't horrible right?"

He didn't answer the question, he knew that she wasn't really expecting him to, he just let her continue, "He was a nice guy, he treated me well, and he worked hard. He was everything most women want in a husband. But…there was no passion, no desire, he didn't excite me. I didn't fit in with his world either. I mean, my parents had always done well for themselves, but it was nothing compared to his family and how they lived, which was extravagantly. I always felt out of place with them, like I never really belonged. I felt stifled, like I couldn't be or do what I was truly meant to. And after a while all of those feelings just started to suffocate me, until I had to get away. That's when I came to Forks."

Jake gave himself a minute to take it all in before he responded, "So what were you looking for when you came here?"

"Just some clarity I guess. I couldn't stay in that city, in that house, and get it," she shrugged.

He knew they had agreed to be honest, and Jake had a couple more questions he had to ask, "You said he didn't excite you…Were you looking to have an affair Ness?"

On one hand, Ness was shocked to hear him ask that. But on the other, she could see where his train of thought was coming from. Bored, rich housewife takes a short vacation to a small town in order to have some fun and escape her dull life. But that wasn't it, and she hoped deep down he knew that, "No Jake, the thought never even crossed my mind. Honestly, I didn't know what I'd find here or what I was even looking for, until I met you."

He nodded, but forged ahead, "Is that why you left the first time, after I fixed your car?"

"Yes. Jake, when I said there was no desire with Michael, that was true, but there had never been any with anyone else either. I'd never felt passion, I'd never desperately wanted, I'd never truly been in love. I married Michael because I'd managed to convince myself that all of those things didn't really exist, and that the best I could do would be to find someone I could get along with who treated me decent. But eventually I realized that it wasn't enough. And then I met you…and you made me feel all of those things that I never really believed in almost instantly. It was confusing, and scary, and exhilarating all at once. So I ran."

He smiled, he couldn't help it, because he remembered that first day they'd met with alarming clarity and the spark that had ignited between them. He'd been just as affected by her as she'd been by him, "Okay, I understand, I just have one last question."

"Okay," Ness prompted when he didn't continue.

"Why didn't you tell me when you came back Ness? If you really wanted to be with me, why not just be honest?"

Ness found it hard to swallow past the lump that had formed in her throat. This was the hardest question for her to answer, one she'd been asking herself for months, and just recently discovered the answer to.

She looked up so their eyes locked, she wanted to see his reaction to her answer, "I was afraid. I thought at first that I had been trying to tell you. I convinced myself that there was just never the right time to get it out, but none of that was true. No one had ever made me feel even a tenth of what you'd managed to make me feel in just a handful of days Jacob, and I was terrified that if I told you the truth you'd walk away. But I fucked up, because you ended up walking away anyway, and I hurt you in the process; I'm sorrier for that than you'll ever know."

It was hard for Jake to hear the truth, even though he'd been the one to ask. It also made him wonder just how long Ness would have gone on keeping her secret if he hadn't found out, but he didn't have the heart to ask. He'd heard enough, it was time to put all of that behind them and move on.

He sat up in the bed, leaning his back against the headboard, and held his arms open for Ness. Immediately she scrambled up the bed and into his arms, which he wrapped tightly around her. She had made some pretty big mistakes, but he was finally able to forgive her completely. She was here, and she was his, and that's all that mattered.

…

They managed to sleep for a while after their talk. When Ness woke again she noticed that it had started to get light outside, which meant it was somewhere around 6 am. Despite the little sleep she'd got, she felt more refreshed than she had in quite a while and she knew it was because of Jake.

They'd shifted at some point in their sleep. Ness was now on her side with Jake pressed up against her back, the sheet was pooled around their waists, and one of his arms was wrapped around her. Looking down, she realized where his hand was and she smiled. The arm that was around her was bent at the elbow to allow his hand to reach up and cup her breast.

Slowly, so as not to disturb him, she moved to flip over and face him. The arm that was around her tightened, bringing her even closer, and she gasped when she felt Jakes hard length press up against her thigh.

Immediately her pulse quickened and she attempted to press herself even closer, all thoughts of not waking him vanished. She brought her face closer and placed soft kisses on his mouth, but he didn't stir.

She wanted him, but she wasn't sure how she should wake him, until an idea popped into her head. It was bold, and not something she'd done many times before, but she was willing to give it a try.

Very carefully, she lifted the arm that was around her and rolled him onto his back. With the first step accomplished, a wicked smile touched her lips as she rose up onto her knees and scooted down to the middle of the bed.

Glancing up quickly, she confirmed he was still asleep by his heavy breathing, relaxed facial expression, and closed eyes. She took one more deep breath, letting it out slowly, and lowered the sheet.

She took a minute to indulge, letting her eyes travel all the way up, and then back down his body. He was beautiful; his skin was flawless, his face chiseled, and his muscles nicely defined. She felt her pulse quicken just by looking.

Tentatively, Ness reached out and wrapped her hand around his hardness. She heard him grunt and her eyes flew up to his, but they were still closed. She proceeded, slowly moving her hand up and down his shaft.

As she stroked, her own body began to respond, taking pleasure in what she was doing to Jake. After another minute she grew bolder and lowered her head. She took him into her mouth, tightened her hand around his base, and then she began to move.

She didn't have many tricks, but she knew a couple of things, and she used them all. She swirled, sucked, bobbed, and hummed, and became totally engrossed in what she was doing. So much so that she didn't notice Jake wake up until she heard him hiss.

Her eyes flew up to his and they were wide open, starring down at her and blazing with need. And Ness didn't miss a beat, she kept up her ministrations, cheering internally when Jake moaned and threw his head back.

"Jesus Ness. If you don't stop I'm gonna come." His voice was raspy with his need and it just spurred her on.

She wasn't about to stop to respond, so she just doubled her efforts, knowing that would speak volumes.

It did, and Jake couldn't hold out much longer. Her mouth was hot and wet, wrapped tightly around his dick, driving him crazy.

All it took was a few more strokes of her sweet mouth, and Jake was done. He exploded into her, calling her name as he found his release.

…

Sometime later, Ness and Jake were spread out in bed, both breathing hard and extremely satisfied.

A small smile played at the corners of Ness' mouth. Jake had certainly returned the favor of her morning wake-up call, and then some.

She was so relaxed she could barely move, but she wanted to be closer to Jake. She harnessed all of the energy she had left and rolled herself closer to him, curling up near his side.

Jake extended his arm and wrapped it around Ness, pulling her closer. He'd been trying to think of something to say for the past few minutes but hadn't come up with anything yet. Ness' wake-up call had drained everything he had. But fortunately his stomach was able to speak for him, letting out a load growl and announcing how hungry he was.

Ness burst out laughing, "So maybe my morning surprise should have consisted of bacon and eggs instead?"

Jakes eyes shot up at the mention of bacon and he gave her what he hoped was a pleading look, "well, you could always make some now."

She narrowed her eyes in mock outrage, "So you expect me to just get up and cook for you after all of my exertions this morning?"

Jake just shrugged as he sat up in bed, "Well, it's either you get your sexy ass in the kitchen and make me some food…or we go out and eat, because I'm fucking starving." He winked at her and then reached out, grabbed her around the waist, and pulled Ness down and under him, trapping her with his body. "You really know how to make a man work up an appetite." And then he kissed her breathless.

Almost an hour later, Ness and Jake were sitting at the small table in her kitchen. Once they'd managed to get out of bed she had realized that she was quite hungry as well. She'd whipped up pancakes, bacon, and eggs in no time and Jake was busy shoveling food into his mouth so fast she didn't understand how he had time to chew.

She just sat staring at him, but it took him a while to actually notice she wasn't eating. He looked over at her and stopped with his fork half way to his mouth, "What? Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, everything's fine, just wondering how you're breathing in between those heaping forkfuls of food."

Jake just shrugged and lifted another bite to his mouth, "I told you woman, you made me work up an appetite. I gotta keep my strength up if I'm gonna keep up with you," he winked.

They finished breakfast soon after and Jake helped clear the table and clean up. As they cleaned, Ness reflected on the previous day and how happy she was to be here with Jake.

Her thoughts caused her to smile and Jake noticed, coming up behind her and wrapping his arms around her waist, "You look like the cat that ate the canary," He whispered as he leaned down and brushed his lips against her neck.

Chills ran down her body, radiating from the spot his lips had touched, "Well I am pretty satisfied, thanks to you."

Jake couldn't agree more, "hmmm, same here baby."

She was happy, truly happy, and she wished with all she had that it would last.


End file.
